Devils Daughter
by SilenceIsGolden15
Summary: Nick is good at being a shadow. He's good at being the new kid in school that no one knows exists. He's good at being the son his mother barely remembers to bring along each time they move. He thinks he likes being a shadow. Until he meets the devils daughter.
1. Chapter 1

Fangs PoV

God. Another year another house.

"Stop sulking, Nick." My mom said sternly.

"This is the thirteenth house we've lived in." I mumbled back.

"It's not that bad."

"This is the thirteenth state we've lived in."

She sighed. "It'll be different this time."

"Yeah, that's what you say every time."

She pressed her lips into a thin line and didn't respond, instead focusing on looking for our new house as we drove down the road.

The neighborhood was isolated, a series of large mansions with acres of land surrounding them from each other, connected by a winding road lined with huge trees.

"Really, Nick, you always make such a fuss." My adopted sister said from the back seat. My eyes flicked to the rearview mirror at her, sitting barefoot and crosslegged, texting. Her curly mane of caramel hair was tied back into a high ponytail, her purple painted nails racing over the screen of her phone.

"Shut up, Monique." I muttered back. "You only think that because you make friends so easily."

I could practically feel her light brown eyes rolling at me. "You're just a loser who can barely speak above a whisper."

I knew she was just teasing, and it was true, but it still stung a little.

"Ah, here it is." The van swung left onto a flagstone driveway. You couldn't even see the house from the road, the only sign it existed was the mailbox with the house number.

We crested a hill, and the biggest house we had lived in yet loomed up in front of us. Four stories, all brown bricks and black ironwrought fences. Monique whistled low at the sight.

"Nice, Mom. How'd we afford this?"

Mom smiled and looked back at her, her black curls swishing over her shoulder.

"I invested well, sweetheart."

"Are we there yet?" The little voice came from beside Monique, from a little girl with blonde curls.

"Morning sleeping beauty." My mother joked as Angel rubbed her little eyes and yawned.

"Are we there, Mommy?"

"Yes, baby, we're here." She always had doted on my littlest sister. Mom parked the van and we all climbed out, Monique groaning at her sore leg muscles.

"Mom, next time we move from Arizona to Virginia, can we at least fly?" she whined, making Mom laugh out loud.

Time Skip

Finally, my room was unpacked. Judging from the jangling downstairs in the kitchen, Mom and Monique were still unpacking. Sometimes I don't know why I even bother unpacking if we're just going to move again.

I flopped back on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I started a new school tomorrow. Doubtless by the end of the day Monique would be surrounded by a new posse of best friends. Angel would be starting kindergarten for the first time, Mom would be occupied with that and with unpacking. I would do what I always did, and what I did best: be a shadow in the background. Sure a few people would want to try to talk to me tomorrow, I'd get a few stares, but after a few days nobody would remember I existed.

Eh, it's better that way. Less problems.

Maxs PoV

"Iggy, you blew up my XBox!"

"Serves you right for stinking up my room!"

I groaned and pulled my pillow over my head.

"Boys! It's 11 at night, give it a rest!" I heard my mother yell from their bedroom. "Or so help me I will send your father after you!"

The boys immediately quieted, like threats of my father always made them do. My dad scares the living crap out of everyone in this house.

"Get up."

I obeyed, pushing back my thick blankets and setting my bare feet against the wooden floor.

"Go to the kitchen."

I left my room, padding silently down the hallway, keeping to the shadows.

The voices had been whispering to me for days. Even in my sleep, they whispered.

Down the stairs I went, across the living room, into the dining room, and then into the kitchen.

Our housekeeper Claudia stood in the walk-in freezer, lifting crates onto the top shelves.

As I watched, a man appeared. I couldn't see his face. Just a tall man in a black suit, pointing to something on the table. I knew what I had to do.

The man disappeared, and I strode forward to the table.

The steel of the padlock was cool in my hand. Claudia stepped further into the freezer, the door swung shut behind her. I slid the padlock through the loop and snicked it shut.

"The freezer isn't cold enough."

I gave the temperature dial next to the door a good twist, sending the temperature plummeting. From inside, I could hear Claudia make a sound of surprise. The door handle shook, and she thumped on the door.

"Good girl."

I smiled and went back to bed.

(A/N Hey, finally got the courage to upload this. This is a very experimental fic, so please leave me a review and tell me what you think of it.

UNC-

SilenceIsGolden15)


	2. Chapter 2

Fangs PoV

I awoke the next morning to a beeping alarm clock, a crying little girl, a shouting teenager, and a mother banging on my bedroom door. I silently pushed myself out of bed, rubbing my eyes as I crossed to the door.

I yanked it open from underneath my mother's fist. Seeing that I was awake, she whisked herself down the hall to deal with whatever crisis Monique was having.

I closed my door and got ready for school.

Time Skip

The school was a huge brick building, one of those posh ones you usually see in shitty soap operas. I sighed, knowing that there was no way my skinny jeans and black leather jacket would fit in here. Oh well.

Monique was already half way up the front steps, making a beeline towards a group of girls her age. I trailed behind, already knowing better than to try to talk anyone. Best if I found somewhere out of the way to sit until the bell rang.

Behind me, a car door slammed. Footsteps pounded on the concrete path, and then two blonde boys rushed past me, nearly knocking me over.

"Sorry!" The shorter, and seemingly younger, one shouted as they kept going. The taller one, more of a strawberry blonde, just laughed.

Maxs PoV

The next morning, I woke up an hour early and went back to the kitchen. The key to the padlock was on the counter next to the freezer. I unlocked the padlock and slid it in my pocket. Cracking the door open a bit, I peeked inside. Claudia was face down on the floor, not moving. I smirked to myself and closed the door again.

It was perfect. They'd think she had a seizure or something, she was in her mid-fifties. No one would ever come looking for a killer, and even if they did, I would be the last they'd think of.

Iggy and Gazzy were up at the last moment, as usual.

"James, Zephyr! Hurry up!" My mother shrieked, standing next to the open front door. James and Zephyr were Iggy and Gazzy's real names. I had a thing for nicknames, so I gave them ones. Iggy is short for ignite, since he likes to blow things up. Gazzy is short for the Gasman. He eats a burrito and he goes toxic.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Mom yelled, pushing us out the door one by one. The door slammed shut behind us as Iggy and Gazzy scrambled into the car. Our driver just shook his head at them.

I climbed in calmly.

The drive to school was only a few seconds, but the boys were already bouncing off the walls. They always had so much energy. As soon as the car was stopped, they tumbled out and sprinted away up the path. No doubt they were going to go set something on fire. Only my parents money had managed to keep them in the school this long.

They barreled into some poor sap as they ran, almost knocking the person over. Looked like a boy, only a little shorter than Iggy, with black hair and wearing all black everything.

Even as I sped up my pace to catch up with him, I had already given him a nickname.

Fangs PoV

I huffed, the air vainly trying to move aside my fringe. It just flopped back over my eyes again.

"Hey."

I jumped and snapped my head around. A girl had appeared to my left, seemingly out of nowhere. Dirty blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes, tan skin.

"Are you new?" she asked, her voice slightly husky, pushing her longish hair behind one ear. I gave a sharp nod. Her thin lips quirked upwards in a smirk.

"I hope you have a good work ethic. The teachers here are merciless. I'm Max, by the way."

"Nick." I mumbled.

"Hm. I have a better one."

My brow furrowed, then I raised one eyebrow in question. She had a better what, name? Yeah, Max is cooler than Nick, but-

"Fang."

"What?"

"I gave you a nickname."

"Do you normally give nicknames to strangers?" I said quietly, slightly irritated. This girl was weird, and I just wanted to be left alone.

She chuckled. "Yeah, actually I do. And you better get used to it, cause I'm not going to stop calling you that."

"Who said you could call me anything?"

She just chuckled again. Does she take anything seriously?

"You're a mumbler. The teachers won't like that." By this time, we had reached the giant wooden doors, and hundreds of kids were crowding past us into the building. I opened my mouth to respond when the bell rang.

Max smirked at me. "See ya later, Fang." Then she disappeared into the crowd.

Fang. I kinda like it.


	3. Chapter 3

Maxs PoV

I was already sat in my place at the back of my first period classroom when, lo and behold, Fang walked in. And the only empty seat was next to me. Guess it's my lucky day.

He glanced around, obviously trying not to draw attention to himself, and spotted the empty seat. His eyes flicked to me, and his jaw twitched, but he walked over and plunked down in the seat anyway.

"Hey." I said. "Fancy seeing you here."

He ignored me.

I shrugged to myself and turned back to the front of the room. Obviously he didn't want to talk to me, so I'll just leave the poor kid alone.

At least, that's what I thought I was going to do.

"Alright kids, time for the terrible news." said Ms. Lunsford, standing up. "It's project day." The entire class groaned, but she just rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad this time. It's a partner project. And you get to pick." The rest of the class cheered, I just clenched my jaw. Partner project: a.k.a, twice the work for me when I do it alone.

As she wrote out the instructions on the board, the class rearranged themselves into partners.

"Alright kids. Since our last unit was on world religions, this project will be about religion. You must choose a religion, and basically research it to death. What are the various sects and denominations? What are some famous cults and terrorists? What are their rituals and core beliefs? What are their holy texts? What are their pros and cons? And most importantly, you must not allow your own personal beliefs to influence your paper." She looked at us sternly, setting her hands on her hips. "This is an exercise in bias. Remember that. Project is due next Monday, so you have all this week and the weekend to do it. As usual you won't get any class time to work on it. Come up to the table and let me know who you're partnering with."

Two by two, the class went up to the desk and got their names recorded. When everyone else was done, she looked back at me knowingly. I sighed and went up to her desk.

"Do you have a partner yet, Max?" she asked, knowing full well what the answer was.

"Well, considering we have an odd number of students in this class, and people aren't exactly lining up to work with me if you haven't noticed, I'm going to go with the usual answer of no."

She smirked at me. "We don't have an odd number anymore." She looked over my shoulder. "Nick? Would you come up here for a moment?"

Oh. Well then. I guess that solves that problem.

Fang appeared next to me soundlessly, like a shadow.

"I know this is only your first day, but maybe this will help you make some friends." Ms. Lunsford said. "Since you two haven't picked your own partners, you'll just have to do it together. Ok?"

Fang nodded once, sharply. She smiled at him and scribbled our names down.

Back in our seats, I began the conversation. "So, your house or mine?"

"Mine isn't unpacked yet." he muttered. God, would it kill him to speak at a normal volume?

"Guess it's gonna be mine then. Meet me outside after school, I'll give you a ride there. Home too, if you need it."

He nodded once as the bell rang, and that was the last I saw of him the rest of the day.

Fangs PoV

Max wasn't kidding about this place. I was no stranger to being the new kid, and never before had I had this much homework on my first day. Plus the teachers were extra irritable about my muttering. I'd lost count of how many times I had been reprimanded for it.

I texted Monique and told her where I was going to be this afternoon, along with my mom. Mom responded with a quick,

 _K, have fun._

Monique didn't respond at all.

Why did I even bother letting them know? I could probably disappear for a few weeks and they wouldn't notice.

When I walked out the doors after school, it wasn't hard to locate Max. Those two guys who had run into me earlier were chasing each other in circles around her, shouting. Max seemed undisturbed, just staring off into the distance somewhere like she was on a dramatic TV show. She snapped out of it when she saw me.

"Hey, Fang." she said. Just then, a car pulled up and the two boys leapt into it like someone set the school on fire. Max beckoned to me with a tilt of her head, so I got in after her. I pressed myself against the door, practically becoming one with the black leather interior of the vehicle.

I wasn't surprised when we drove down the same road I lived on. I mean, they had their own uniformed driver to pick them up from school. This was the only place for posh people like that to live.

Their house was a huge white limestone manor, with a crushed seashell driveway and huge Roman columns on the monster of a front porch. The two boys were out of the car and running up the front steps in seconds. I don't even think they knew I was there.

"Don't mind them." Max told me as we followed them at a much slower pace. "They're oblivious to everything."

We walked through the huge wooden double doors and into a large foyer. There was a staircase to the left and to the right, leading up to a balcony above that probably lead to a hallway. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling, and it was the only light source in the room, causing the shadows to do some strange things.

A maid was in the middle of the room, picking up the backpacks the boys had dumped on the floor.

From the double doors between the staircases, a woman emerged. She opened one door a sliver and slipped through delicately. Her perfectly curled blonde hair was pulled over one shoulder, and her smart grey suit didn't have a single wrinkle. She had obviously been careful with her makeup, but underneath, she was pale.

"Max." she said softly. "Your father wants to see you and your brothers."

Max sighed. "Do you want me to get them?"

"No, I'll do it. Just go see your father."

She walked towards one of the staircases, her heels clacking on the stone floor. I shuffled my feet uncertainly, not sure what I should do. My question was answered when Max elbowed me and motioned with her head for me to follow her.

We went into the room between the staircases. It was a study, lots of bookcases, brown leather, and mahogany. A thin man in a suit with sandy hair and wire framed glasses sat behind a ridiculously big desk, looking through papers on his desk and looking stressed.

He looked up, and his frown deepened. "Who is this, Maxine." It wasn't a question, it was very clearly a command. Max had an annoyed look on her face.

"A friend from school. His name is Fang."

The man rolled his eyes and looked at me, and I felt a shiver run down my spine. This guy, thin and unassuming as he may be, had an aura that was all dominance.

"What's your real name?"

"Nick." I muttered.

He looked back down at his papers. "Call me Jeb." he said shortly without looking up.

Behind us, the doors burst open, and Max's brothers crashed into the room.

"James, Zephyr." Jeb snapped. For the first time since I'd seen them, they finally stood still. The younger, blonder one was staring at his feet, but the tall one was glaring at his dad with all the attitude he dared. Max just looked bothered.

"Children, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Jeb said solemnly, still not looking up from his papers. "Claudia passed away last night."

I didn't know who Claudia was, but James and Zephyr seemed pretty shell shocked.

"How?" Stuttered out the tall one (I still wasn't sure which one was which).

"We're not sure yet. We found her in the freezer this morning. The police think she fainted in there and froze to death." Well, Jeb was nothing if not blunt.

This whole time, Max remained unmoved, almost like she either was expecting the news or just didn't care much about this Claudia person.

"Run along now, children, I have work to do."

Max grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the room behind her. Behind me, the steps of the two brothers were slow.

"Who was Claudia?" I muttered to Max as we ascended the left staircase.

"One of our maids." Max turned left at the top of the stairs, finally letting go of my wrist.

"You don't seem too bothered about her dying." In fact, her calmness was starting to weird me out a little bit.

She just shrugged. "She's been working here forever, but we never talked much. She preferred Iggy and Gazzy. She liked their energy I guess, she was pretty old."

Iggy and Gazzy. Must be Max's special nicknames for James and Zephyr.

I followed her down a long hallway. She stopped at the third door on the right and threw it open. It banged against the wall and chipped the paint.

The room was pretty big, about the same size as mine. It was all painted a pretty sky blue, with clouds painted on the ceiling. She had a large 4 poster bed centered on the far wall that had blue and white covers, with seemingly a million pillows.

Along the wall across from me where 3 white bookshelves. I spotted an entire shelf of one that was just books about birds.

"You like birds?" I asked. She turned from where she was organizing papers on a desk and smiled softly at me.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "Because they can just fly away if things get too crazy, I guess." She plopped down in a rolly chair in front of her desk and dragged another one over, the wheels scraping over the tan wood.

"Come sit down, we've got work to do."


	4. Chapter 4

Fangs PoV

I perched on the edge of the chair and put my backpack between my feet. Max was already pulling up tabs of browsers and opening blank word documents on her laptop.

"So," she said, not taking her eyes off the screen. "I was thinking we could do something taboo, ya know, something people are adverse to. Like Satanism."

I had to roll my eyes. "You just want to seem edgy and cool." I muttered.

She turned and faced me, her brown eyes hard and stubborn. "Listen, 98% of that class is already going to be doing either Christianity or Islam. The rest will do something like Buddhism. Most people already know at least a little bit about those. Ms. Lunsford likes originality, she'll give us extra points if no one else in the class does the same one as us. She'll also give us bonus points if we actually teach people something instead of just rattling off stereotypes. Trust me, if we do it right this will give us the best grade possible, even if we get docked points on presentation for your muttering."

She stopped ranting for a second and turned back to her computer. I could tell she had been rehearsing this speech all the way home.

"Plus, I already know a lot about it so we won't have to do much research."

Great, she's also into the occult. This girl just keeps getting weirder and weirder by the minute.

Well, I didn't have any better ideas, and she seemed to know what she was doing. I didn't have time to worry about it, so whatever.

"Ok, I'm just gonna start putting together some basic brainstorming stuff. You can work on whatever else you need to."

I shrugged to myself and pulled my first assignment out of my backpack. For the next half hour, the only sound was Max's fingers racing over her keyboard. She typed to a rhythm, like there was a soundtrack in her head. The sound was actually kind of soothing.

After a while, she stopped and rubbed her eyes, yawning.

Maxs PoV

God I was tired. The whispers never stop, even if I do manage to fall asleep I don't feel rested.

" _I'm sorry Max. I know it's tiring. But you have to work hard to get what you want_."

I sighed, knowing the voice was right. If I wanted the power he promised me, I needed to deal with it.

"Tired?" Fangs quiet voice broke into my reverie, and I forced a tired smile.

"Just a little. No big deal." I returned to the task at hand, and Fang turned back to his homework.

"When do you need to head home?" I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fang pause.

"Not sure." he muttered. "Whenever you want me gone, I guess."

I shrugged. "Ok. We'll take you after dinner then."

There was no response, only the sound of my typing and his pencil scratching over the paper.

"So are you planning on doing this whole thing yourself? Because if you're going to do that anyway I don't see the point of me being here."

I turned to look at him. He hadn't even looked up from his paper.

"No, I'm not doing it all by myself. I'm just trying to organize what I already know about it so we know what we need to do more research on."

"Ok."

Nothing else was said.

 _When am I going to get my power?_ I asked the voice as I typed. _You said if I killed Claudia-_

" _One more kill and I will start giving you power."_

 _When will I get to kill again?_ As much as I hated to admit it, it was thrilling, holding life and death in your hands.

 _"_ _Patience, Max. I will tell you when your time is right._ "

I barely held in a groan of frustration.

 _"_ _You killed Claudia last night, Max. If you killed again now, people will get suspicious. With great power comes great responsibility, as they say. You must learn patience."_

Fangs PoV

Dinner with Max's family was quiet and tense. The dining room table was obviously meant for a lot more people, so the other half of it was empty. Jeb sat at the head of the table, looking through papers as he ate. He apparently liked quiet, because every time Iggy or Gazzy spoke to each other, his eyes would flick up and shoot daggers at them.

Max's nicknames seemed to fit people better than their actual names, I noticed. I had managed to pick up that the taller one is James, or Iggy, and the younger one is Zephyr, or Gazzy. I didn't know the reasons behind their nicknames, but despite that, they still suited the boys perfectly.

Max kept staring at her dad with a look that sent shivers down my spine. This girl was scary. There was something off about her.

There were a couple of other people at the table as well. Her grandfather, apparently, and her uncle. 2 maids and a butler waited by the table, ready to serve whenever needed.

After dinner was over, the driver drove me home. I was tired when I got there, but I still had more homework to do.

I trudged into the living room. My mom was sat cross legged on the floor, pulling knick knacks out of a box.

"Hey, Mom?"

She looked up with a surprised smile. "Nick, sweetheart! How was your day?"

"Fine. I need my computer set up."

"The boxes are in the garage. I'm sure you can set it up."

I nodded silently and went to the garage.

About an hour later I finally got my computer sorted out. By then it was 8 o'clock and I was exhausted. I settled down to do my math, but my brain was melted and I couldn't think. Eventually I gave up and went to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Fangs PoV

When I opened my eyes. I was still in my bedroom. But it was on fire.

I sat bolt upright in a panic, which only grew when I saw the man sitting in my desk chair.

"Don't be afraid, Fang." he said in a deep, soothing voice. He didn't seem at all bothered by the flames or the oppressive heat, and his black suit was unburnt. In fact, everything in the room seemed untouched. "The fire won't hurt you."

I was dreaming. It was just a dream. I curled the sheets in my hands and took a deep breath. The smoke tried to choke me, but I refused to let it. It's just a dream.

"I know what you want." Just a dream. "You don't want to be a shadow in the background anymore. You want to be noticed, no, you want to be feared. The next time your mother wants to move you across the country, you want to be able to stand up to her and tell her no."

I shook my head. Just a dream. None of this meant anything.

"I can give you what you want."

Before he could say anything else, I was waking up. My mother was banging on my door. Angel was crying. Monique was shouting. And I felt as exhausted as I did when I fell asleep.

Maxs PoV

The next morning, Fang barely got into class before the bell. He slumped into his seat beside me just as Ms. Lunsford walked into the room.

"You look rough." I said, eyeing the circles under his eyes. He sighed.

"I got my computer set up." he murmured.

"Ok, I'll bring my laptop and we can work at your house today." He just nodded. "Stay up late last night?"

"Yeah." I narrowed my eyes at him. Ever so slightly, right before he answered, he hesitated.

Then again, why wouldn't he? He didn't know me at all.

So I shrugged and turned back towards the front of the room.

Fangs PoV

"Sorry sweetie, I gotta run some errands. Would you mind walking home today?"

"Mom, it's like a mile."

"It's not that bad."

"I have someone with me."

My mother laughed. "That's very funny dear."

Before I could respond, she had hung up.

I wanted to throw my phone and scream with frustration. Instead I just shoved my phone into my pocket and bit my cheek.

"Hey." It was Max, appearing next to me the way she did yesterday.

"Looks like we have to walk." I muttered. "Sorry." Honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised if she just decided to go home.

But she smiled. "No biggie. Lets go."

I ground my teeth as we walked. This was humiliating. If Monique had called and told Mom that her cheerleading practice was canceled, she would have dropped everything to come get her. Even if Angel wanted more cookies or something Mom would be off to the store that very moment.

I was her oldest child, and her only son, but most of the time I feel like a stranger, just living in their house and watching their family from the outside in.

Max didn't seem to mind the brooding silence. In fact, she seemed to prefer it to speech, as she seemed to be lost in thought every time I glanced at her.

When we turned onto the posh mansion road, Max's eyebrows rose.

"What do your parents do for a living?" she asked.

"My mom's a vet."

"A vet can afford to live here?"

"Apparently she invested well."

"My dad is a senator, you know. But most of our money comes from my grandfather's fortune."

I shot her a strange look, but she didn't seem to think anything of the sudden outpouring of information.

I couldn't think of an answer, so I just stayed silent.

Unlike at Max's house, there were no maids rushing to answer the door for us. There were still boxes piled everywhere, both empty and full, crowding the hallway. This house was not nearly as posh as Max's, just a long hallway from the front door with rooms on either side, ending in a single staircase.

"The kitchen is there." I muttered, pointing at an archway to my left. "In case you get hungry. We don't have much, but there's enough."

"Ok." Again, she didn't seem to mind how out of order the house was. She followed me up the stairs and into my room, the only room in the house that was actually completely unpacked.

I set my backpack on my desk and sat down in my desk chair. I only had one chair, but Max just plopped herself down on my bed and pulled her laptop out of her bag.

"Ok." she said, flipping open the laptop. "I have the various sects down, as well as their practices and rituals and holy texts. All we need is terrorists, cults, and pros and cons."

"Ok, so you do cults, I'll do terrorists, then you do pros and I'll do cons?"

"Sure."


	6. Chapter 6

Fangs PoV

We worked in silence for about half an hour before the sound of the front door told me that the family was home.

I heard a multitude of voices chattering away, and many footsteps pounding on the stairs, then 3 or 4 teenage girls passed my door. Monique had brought some friends home, apparently.

A moment later, my mother poked her head in.

"Nick, could you- oh!" She made a small sound of surprise upon seeing Max and pushed the door all the way open.

"Told you I had someone with me." I muttered. She shot me a small glare, but quickly plastered on the Friendly Mom Face and pushed her curls behind one ear, holding a hand out to Max.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Martinez."

Max stood up and shoot her hand once. "Max." she said with a frozen smile.

"So what are you two up to? Pardon my surprise, but Nick doesn't usually make friends this quickly."

Or ever, I thought scathingly to myself. Not that you care.

"We're just working on a school project."

"A school project? On your second day?" Now she was talking to me, her eyebrows furrowed.

"The teachers are kinda strict. We were working on it yesterday too, at my house." Max answered for me.

Mom just frowned at me, confused.

"Did you not notice that I wasn't at dinner?" I hissed.

"Um… oh, yes, I remember now." My mother's face smoothed back into her Friendly Mom Smile. "Well, you two work hard." she gave Max another smile, then swept out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Once her footsteps had faded away, Max turned to me, her smile gone and her eyes dark.

"I don't like her."

Max couldn't stay for long, she had to go back to her house for dinner. I had hoped that my mom would be able to drive her, but when the time came, I couldn't find her anywhere. Finally, I went to ask Monique where she was.

"She's driving my friends home." she said carelessly, chewing on her pencil's eraser as she did her math homework.

Of course.

"That's ok." Max said, stepping forward to stand beside me. "I can walk."

Monique looked up at the new voice and raised her eyebrows. I sighed.

"Monique, this is Max. Max, this is my sister Monique."

"Nice to meet you." Monique said, shooting me a suggestive smirk.

"Nice to meet you too." Max replied, in the same frosty tone she had addressed my mother in. Then she seemed to dismiss my sister entirely as she turned to me and put her hand on my arm.

"Would you walk me home?" The request caught me by surprise, and left me stunned for a moment while Monique sniggered in the background.

"Um, sure, yeah. I-I guess."

She gave me a warm grin. "Thanks. Lets go." The hand that had been resting on my arm slid down to my hand, and she quickly pulled me away down the hall.

As soon as we reached the front door, she dropped my hand like a hot potato.

"I don't like her either."

We were halfway to Max's house before the chills stopped running down my spine.

Maxs PoV

The voice told me to get to know Fang better. Told me he would be important. So here I am.

"So what's with your mom?" I asked as casually as I could as we walked.

"What do you mean?" His voice was even quieter than normal, his hands shoved into his pockets and his shoulders hunched.

"She didn't seem to notice that you were gone yesterday."

He just shrugged, and I frowned. I needed to get him out of his shell.

"I bet my parents didn't notice I was gone either." That seemed to get his attention, so I kept going. "My dad is always busy with his job, and my mom is preoccupied managing the house and trying to keep Iggy and Gazzy from killing us all." His eyes met mine, searching for a lie. He wouldn't find one, all of that was true.

His shoulders released a bit of their tension. "My mom is always busy with Angel." he muttered. "My little baby sister. Monique takes up all the rest of her time. It'll be even worse once she gets her vet stuff set up."

"They don't appreciate you." I murmured in as soft a voice as I could. He sighed.

"Whats there to appreciate?" He said it so quietly, he obviously didn't mean for me to hear.

So I didn't answer, and we finished the walk in silence.

"Do you wanna work at my house tomorrow?" I asked him, trying to find his eyes in the darkness.

"I need my computer."

"You can borrow one of my moms laptops, she never uses them."

"How many laptops does she have?"

"Three."

Fang sighed and shook his head. "Your family is ridiculous."

"I'll take that as a yes. See you tomorrow."


	7. Chapter 7

Fangs PoV

I walked back home slowly, tucking my hands into my pockets against the chilly September air.

I don't know what to make of Max. Sometimes she scares me, other times she makes me happy. It was nice, not being alone, having someone to talk to.

I got home before my mom and quickly returned to my room, not wanting to see her. As I passed Moniques room, I suddenly wondered if Max had come up with any nicknames for them. I decided to ask her tomorrow.

Despite it only being about 7 at night, I was way too tired to do any homework. So with only a fleeting thought of my nightmare last night, I went to bed.

This time, when I heard the crackle and felt the heat of the flames, I didn't open my eyes. It was just a dream.

"They don't appreciate you." said the soothing voice, telling me that the man was there, just like he had been last night. I shivered despite the heat.

"Fang, they forget about you. You are meaningless to them."

Whatever, creepy dream man. Max's comments combined with the stress of moving and a new school was just screwing with my head. That's why he's using her nickname and her phrases. None of it means anything.

"Help me, and I will help you. I will make them give you the respect you deserve."

I frowned and opened my eyes. Help him? What does that mean? Help him with what?

Before I could ask, the flames were gone, and my mother was banging on my door.

Maxs PoV

I couldn't sleep. Through the walls, I could hear my mom and dad arguing.

"We have to have a memorial or a funeral or something." Mom said in a pleading tone. "She didn't have any family, there's no one else to do it."

"You know why I can't do that." My dad responded in his uninterested tone which told me he was probably working on something while talking to my mother.

"We can't just ignore it! How many years did she work for us? We owe it to her."

I heard the thump of something against a desk, and Dad's voice got louder.

"This is an election year, Anne. If we do that the press will have a field day!"

"And what do you think they'll do if they find out she died and you didn't acknowledge it?!"

"She was just a maid!"

"How could you say that? She-"

"I'm done talking about this."

"Jeb-"

I heard the loud smack of skin on skin, and someone whimpered.

"I said I'm done talking about this."

I ground my teeth and threw myself out of bed.

" _Max, stop."_

 _I can kill him. I've done it before._

" _You're not strong enough yet."_

I had my hand on the door knob, but that stopped me cold.

" _You will kill him, I promise. But not now. He's going to be your grand finale._ "

I sighed and leaned my head against the door.

" _Patience, patience, patience. In the meantime, get to know Fang. Get close to him, make him trust you._ "

I groaned, quietly so no one would hear me, and flopped back down onto my bed. I spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling, itching to kill.

Fangs PoV

I groaned and pushed my hair back. For a moment I considered faking sick to stay home, but if I missed a day at this school I'd probably be screwed for the rest of the quarter.

So I got out of bed. By this point my mom had given up on banging on the door.

Today I decided to wear a black hoodie. I zipped it all the way up and flipped the hood over my head, to conceal the dark circles under my eyes. My mom probably wouldn't care, but I didn't want to answer Max's questions if she saw.

When I slunked out of my bedroom, Mom and the girls were waiting for me by the door. Monique rolled her eyes when she saw me.

"Your girlfriend won't like you if you dress so emo all the time." she quipped. I couldn't tell if it was meant to be a joke or not.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you getting a girlfriend would require a minor miracle."

I didn't answer, and Monique ignored me for the rest of the ride to school.

When we arrived at the school, Monique was immediately greeted and escorted away by her new friends.

"Fang."

True to form, Max appeared to my left. Behind her, her car pulled away from the curb and her brothers ran up the path.

She frowned up at me, since she was like 4 inches shorter than me, and flipped my hood back. I let her, too tired to really care all that much.

"Damn." she muttered. "Did you even brush your hair?" She reached up and ruffled my hair, smirking playfully when I ducked away from her.

"You look way too tired to function." She was right about that. "During class today, I'll take notes for you and you can take a nap. Ok?"

"Yeah, ok." Sounded good to me. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Iggys PoV

Probably against Max's expectations, I did notice the guy in the car this afternoon. I'd noticed him a couple of days ago, too. But I didn't mention it. When it came to Max, it was usually better to ignore anything abnormal.

She was barely nine months younger than me, but to me honest, she scared me. There was something different about her lately, something dark. She watched our dad with a deadly look in her eye, and the night Claudia died, I had heard her leave her room.

We had been close, at least until Gazzy got older and I started teaching him how to make things explode when he was a couple of years old. He was eleven, so that must have been when she was seven or eight.

We started fighting a lot more. I guess she was jealous. But the fighting always infuriated our father, so eventually she just started avoiding everyone, locking herself away in her room.

Now, I couldn't remember the last time I had an actual conversation with her.

The guy she was hanging out with didn't seem any better. Not to be judgey or anything, but he seemed like someone who would burn ants with a magnifying glass.

Then again, I guess that's no worse than what I do.

Maybe I shouldn't be so scared of Max. Maybe we're all just a little messed up.


	8. Chapter 8

Iggy's PoV

As per usual, Zephyr and I ran into the house and up the stairs, dumping our backpacks on the foyer floor. We never had any time for homework, we were too busy thinking up ways to screw with our school or our maids.

Sometimes I felt bad for being such a pain in the ass, but I'd rather be doing interesting, exciting things than hiding in my room all day.

We ended up sitting on my bedroom floor, putting together a little smoke bomb. I turned away for a moment to grab a pair of pliers, and when I turned back, Zephyr had two wires in his hands that definitely _should not_ be put together.

"Wait!" I grabbed for his wrist, but it was too late. A huge plume of smoke exploded in our faces.

My eyes watered and my throat constricted, and I coughed harshly. A moment later, the smoke alarm started blaring.

"James! Zephyr!"

"Crap." I coughed out. "Dad."

I grabbed the remains of the bomb and shoved it under my desk. Just the smoke alarm would make him think we had made a small fire. If he saw that we were making an actual bomb, things would go much worse.

The door slammed open so hard the handle made a small hole in the dry wall. Dad coughed and waved his hand in front of his face, then he landed his watery glare on me. I started to scramble backwards, still coughing, but his hand closed around my arm and hauled me to my feet. I was only an inch or two shorter than him, but he still made me feel like a little kid. Or a bug that he was about to crush under his boot heel.

I felt his fingers bruising my skin as he shoved me against my desk, the edge painfully digging into the small of my back.

"I-I'm sorry, we were just-" I stuttered out. I could see Zephyr behind him, having pushed himself into a corner, his eyes wide with fear.

"Shut up." Dad snarled, gripping my wrist tighter. "When will you start acting like the son you're supposed to be? You're a failure, a lazy good-for-nothing who gets kicks from destruction. If you don't turn yourself around now, that's all you'll ever be."

I looked down at the floor, knowing it angered him to be looked in the eye, and gritted my teeth.

"If I get a single mention or hear a single rumor of another one of these incidents, here or at school, I will separate you from your brother. Do you understand me?"

My breath caught in my throat. When I looked up to glance at Zephyr, I saw a crowd had gathered in the hallway. Maids, the butler, my mom. And Max.

Her fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles were bone white, and her eyes had a dark shine in them that made me shiver.

"Do you understand me?" He roared. I grimaced as his hand tightened.

I was about to respond with a meek 'Yes, sir.', but Max beat me.

"Leave him alone!" Max shouted.

Everyone froze. No one ever, ever contradicted my father. _Ever._

Dad slowly turned to look at her with the deadliest glare I had ever seen. She didn't flinch.

He released my wrist, and I immediately scampered out of the way, eyes locked on the battle. Zephyr ran to me and threw his arms around my middle.

"What did you say?" Dad growled.

"I said leave him alone." I wasn't sure who was scarier at the moment, my dad or my sister.

"Are you telling me how to discipline my children?"

"You call it discipline. I call it abuse."

Dad snarled and snapped his hand forward, grabbing a fistful of Max's hair. She winced, and one hand latched onto his wrist. My mother gasped, and I pushed my brother behind me.

"Don't you ever," Dad sneered, grinding out each word through his teeth. "Question me in my house." A single shove sent Max crashing into the wall. She slid to the floor with a loud thump, holding her head. Mom started forward, but one of the maids grabbed her arm.

Satisfied that she had been dealt with, he turned back to me.

Fangs PoV

I stood just behind the wall, peering around the doorframe, watching this event unfold with bated breath.

Max was standing up. Please, I thought, do not argue with him again. You'll get yourself hurt.

She was stepping forward, her fists clenched.

" _Stop her."_

I didn't think before I moved. I threw myself into the room, latching on to Max's wrist right as she was raising her fist. I yanked her back, out of the room.

"What are you-"

I grabbed her shoulders, holding her in front of me as I pushed her through the throng that had gathered in the hallway. She tried to plant her feet to stop me, but I forced her forward nonetheless.

Max managed to turn herself around and started fighting me. "Fang, let me go!"

Wordlessly, I shoved her into her room and closed the door behind us.

"What the hell?" she shouted at me, infuriated. I leaned against the door and tried to think.

"You were going to get yourself hurt." I muttered.

"I was going to teach him a lesson!"

"You were going to get your ass kicked!"

She pressed her lips into a thin line, crossed her arms, and turned away from me. I took a deep breath and tried to process what I just saw. And what I had heard.

There was a voice in my head. I heard it, clear as day, and it wasn't just me thinking. I must just be tired. Either that or I was going insane.

"Maybe we should go to my house." I whispered. Surprisingly, Max heard me.

"Nah. My dad probably thinks I've been intimidated enough. He won't bother us."

I sighed and straightened up. Get a hold of yourself, Fang.

Wait, did I just call myself Fang?

Max rubbed the back of her head.

"Are you hurt?" I asked quietly.

"No. Just a bump." I just nodded. "Look, I'm sorry. Family drama is never fun for the friends."

I shook my head, very aware of the fact that apparently, we were now friends.

I wasn't sure if I was happy or scared.


	9. Chapter 9

Maxs PoV

Fang went home before dinner, and I didn't blame him. I didn't go down to dinner. I couldn't stand to look at Jeb's face, or my mother's, or anyone's for that matter. I stayed in my room, trying not to punch a hole in the wall. In the middle of my enraged pacing around the room, my eyes fell on a glass box sitting on my dresser. White, with pink roses painted onto the lid, it was a present Jeb had given to his little girl on her sixth birthday. Back when I was his princess, and Iggy was my best friend.

I crossed the room in two steps and picked up the box. My fingers wiped away the dust from the ceramic as I flipped open the lid.

There was nothing inside.

In a sudden fit of rage, I threw it to the floor. The glass shattered, leaving small gouges in the wooden floor. By some miracle, my bare feet were untouched.

I listened for footsteps, but didn't hear any. I guess I was being ignored.

I laid face first on my bed and propped my chin on top of my hands. That's where I was, just staring at the shattered glass, when someone knocked on my door.

With a deep sigh, I pulled myself away from the bed and to the door.

"Iggy?"

He gave a small smile. "Man, I haven't heard that in a while."

I just looked at him, unsure what he wanted. We hadn't spoken in months, probably. He noticed my stare and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Look, I just wanted to say thanks. For earlier."

I relaxed upon hearing that, not realizing that I had been tensed up.

"No problem. Someone had to do it eventually."

He smiled awkwardly, and for a moment we just shuffled our feet in silence.

"So, what's your punishment?" I asked eventually. "He wouldn't just warn you."

"I have to scrub the smoke stains off the ceiling." he said with a wry smile. "Could've been worse, honestly."

"Do you want some help?"

He gave me a genuine grin, one that hadn't been directed at me since I was 7.

"Sure."

Third Person PoV

Anne waited, sitting at her vanity and pretending to try out new hairstyles, until Jeb was in his study, taking his usual late evening important phone call. She waited for nearly three hours after dinner until she was positive he would be busy. She then stood up and walked across the bedroom to her walk in closet, making sure Jeb heard her heels clicking on the floor. Slipping her heels off of her feet, she crossed the room again as quietly as possible and stepped out into the hallway.

Anne raced down the hallway as quickly as she could without making too much noise. She needed to be in bed by the time Jeb was done with his call.

She didn't bother knocking on the door when she reached it, just opened it up and entered.

James was sat at his desk, homework spread out in front of him while he stared blankly at the wall. One of his arms was propping his head up, and his mother felt sick to her stomach when she saw the finger shaped bruises circling his wrist.

"James?"

He jolted, nearly making a book fall off of his desk. Luckily he managed to catch it right before it hit the floor.

"Mom? Jesus, I thought you were Dad." Anne had to bite her tongue to keep from crying. Her son leaned back in his chair and pushed his strawberry blonde hair back. You couldn't tell looking at them, but he actually got his hair from her. She'd always dyed it straight blonde, but looking at him now, she wished she hadn't.

"Are you ok?" She asked, stepping forward and reaching out a hand to him. He let her examine his arm.

"Yeah, I'm ok."

"Does it hurt?"

"No."

Anne released a shaky breath, and against her will, tears clouded her vision.

"I'm sorry. I should have stopped him."

"You would've ended up worse than Max. It's ok."

She just shook her head, unable to speak without breaking down. Max shouldn't have had to do it. They were her children, it was her responsibility to protect them, not the other way around. But if she did, they would all be thrown out, and Anne didn't have the means to give her children the live they deserved.

Without a word, she pulled her eldest child into her arms. He let her embrace him, and didn't pull away when it lasted a moment or longer than it probably should have.

"I love you." she whispered into his ear, wishing that the phrase would make everything better.

"I love you too."

When she slipped out of James's room, she paused and listened. Jeb was still talking on the phone.

She knocked on the next door she stopped in front of.

"Come in."

Anne pushed the door open. Her only daughter sat crosslegged on her bed, typing away on her laptop.

Probably working on her project. Her brown eyes, her grandfather's eyes, flicked up. And widened with surprise.

"Mom? What are you doing?" For a moment, Anne was confused by the question. Then she realized that she couldn't remember the last time she had spoken to her daughter one on one.

"I wanted to make sure you were ok."

Max rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. No thanks to you."

Caught off guard, Anne responded on instinct with her mom voice. "Excuse me, young lady-"

"Don't 'young lady' me." Max snapped. "And don't you act all high and mighty, like you have authority."

Anne was shocked, shamefully, into silence.

"Out of all of the people there, the one person I expected to stand up for Iggy was you."

Iggy. She hadn't heard him called that in years.

"You're his mother. Even if you can't stand up for yourself, I had hoped you could stand up for your son. But I had to do it instead. And then you couldn't stand up for me either. So yeah, I'm fine. Now you can stop pretending to care and go back to being Jeb's dress up doll."

Anne barely managed to contain her sobs as she ran from the room.


	10. Chapter 10

It was 2 am, and I was still up working on the project. I didn't want to fall asleep and have another freaky ass dream, but my eyes were starting to droop and burn from staring at the computer screen. I couldn't keep sitting still.

I shoved myself up from my desk and stumbled to my bedroom door. The hallway was pitch black; everyone else in the house was asleep hours ago. I didn't bother trying to be quiet as I went down the stairs and out the front door. My mom was a heavy sleeper, Angel wouldn't understand it, and Monique wouldn't care at all.

I sucked in a breath at the cold night time air. I had forgotten to put a jacket on. But I honestly didn't care too much. The cold was helping me stay awake. I started walking down the street, not really paying attention to where I was going.

" _I'm sorry._ "

I stopped dead in my tracks.

" _I didn't mean to speak to you directly, at least not this soon._ "

I spun in a complete 360, frantically looking for someone- anyone- who could be talking to me. But the street around me was empty.

"Fuck." I muttered, my hands coming up to grip my hair. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." I was going crazy. First those dreams, and now I was literally hearing voices.

" _Not voices, Fang. Just one. Calm down._ "

And now it was telling me to calm down. How the hell was I supposed to calm down?! I literally have a voice in my fucking head!

My breath had sped up until I was nearly hyperventilating. I felt like I was on the verge of screaming. This was the most panicked I had ever felt in my life, like I was about to explode into a bunch of tiny pieces just from fear.

" _I've told you this once before, but I want to help you. And I need your help in return._ "

 _No!_ I shouted, barely keeping it in my head instead of yelling out loud. _Leave me alone!_

" _Don't be afraid of me, Fang. The job I want you to do is simple._ "

I shook my head frantically, as if I could shake the voice out of my head. It was probably going to ask me to shoot up my school or something. Well whatever it was, I wouldn't do it.

" _I need you to help my daughter_."

* * *

I didn't mean to make my mom cry. I just said what I had been thinking all afternoon.

Whatever, it's not my fault she can't deal with the truth.

Today is Thursday. Almost done with the week, and almost done with the project. We had to present it tomorrow. I planned on telling Fang to just stand back and let me do the talking. It's not like anyone would actually be paying attention.

I spotted Fang as soon as we pulled up to the school. He was sitting underneath a tree, wearing his black hoodie again. Even from here, I could see that his eyes were closed like he had fallen asleep.

" _Go to him._ "

As always, I obeyed what he told me and cut across the pristine lawn towards Fang. He didn't open his eyes, even when I sat crosslegged next to him under his tree. So I nudged his knee.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty." I teased. "Time to wake up. Rise and shine and all that."

He opened his eyes and just stared at me. No smile, no words, nothing. Just staring.

My smirk immediately slid off my face. "What's wrong?"

He just shook his head at me.

" _Get him out of his shell. Make him trust you._ "

"Were you up late?" I asked in my softest voice, gently laying my hand on the knee I had nudged a moment before.

He jumped at the contact, but didn't push me away.

"Yeah," he muttered, not looking in my direction. I smiled anyway.

"Ok, I'll take notes for you again."

"You don't have to."

"That's what friends do, isn't it?"

He didn't respond, so we just sat in silence for several minutes.

Then I took a risk. "You can tell me anything." I said quietly. "Even if you think it's crazy."

His eyes snapped up to stare at me. I stared back, until eventually he blinked, stood up, and walked away.

I didn't follow him.

* * *

That's what friends do. You can tell me anything, even if you think it's crazy.

I shook my head as I slunk into the classroom ten minutes early. No way I could tell her I was hearing voices. I couldn't tell anyone. I should do everyone a favor and keep my insanity to myself.

"Oh, good morning, Nick." Miss Lunsford said, clicking into the room on her high heels. "You're here early." The sudden sound of her voice made me jump, and it took me a moment to figure out she was talking to me.

I just shrugged in response to her comment and slid into my seat.

For a minute there, I had forgotten that my name was Nick, not Fang. I couldn't tell if that was the result of being called Fang all the time by the only person who talked to me, or if it was sleep deprivation.

Or maybe it's just more crazy.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes, trying to resist the urge to fall asleep. I had been up all night; that damn voice refusing to shut up. It kept going on and on about how if I helped it's daughter or whatever that it would give me power, make people fear me and all that usual crazy stuff. But it never said who or what it's daughter was or how I was supposed to help her.

 _Because it's not real, dumbass._

I let out another sigh, more students entering the room as the beginning of school grew nearer.

The room was full of noise. A group of boys stood by the window, talking and laughing obnoxiously. Four girls sat two rows in front of me and to the left, spraying way too much perfume. One guy to my right was playing rap music through a speaker attached to his backpack.

All of it added together to make my head pound like I had just been whacked with a hammer.

I want to kill them. That would shut them up. Better yet, I could start a fire. Burn this whole damned place to the ground. Stop the homework, the stress, and maybe stop the crazy. I'd never have to deal with the fuckboys and their music or the stupid bitches with their perfume ever again. I'd never-

A sharp sting in my palm shocked me out of my murderous reverie. Looking down, I realized my fists had been clenched, tight enough to make my nails cut into my palms. One of the half-moon marks was even bleeding.

Dimly, I could hear Miss Lunsford talking, as if from far away. Class had already started.

I muttered a swear to myself and dragged my thumb over my bleeding palm. The friction over the cut made me hiss in a breath as the smeared blood made an arc across my hand. More blood immediately welled up in the wound. I just stared at it, not bothering to try and wipe it away again.

The red is rather pretty, when you think about it. It stood out so brightly from my tan skin, and the school lights gave it a nice shine.

Oh God. What am I thinking?

I slammed my hand against my leg, forcing myself to stop looking at the blood. The force also made the cut sting, but I gritted my teeth and ignored it.

Ever since I moved here, I've been afraid. I was afraid of Max, and I was afraid of those weird dreams.

And now I'm afraid of myself.

(A/N Check out those fancy line breaks. Clearly a professional over here.

UNC-

Silence)


	11. Chapter 11

After school I ditched Max. I know we had that project due and everything, but I couldn't deal with that right now, and I certainly could not deal with her. She'll probably get more done without me, anyway.

I walked home again, not bothering to call my mom. She was always busy so she wouldn't have time for me. Time is precious, after all. Who would waste it on me?

" _I would._ "

 _Damn it,_ I thought, gritting my teeth. That stupid voice hadn't spoken to me all day. It was silly, but I was kind of hoping it was gone for good. Unfortunately life isn't that nice.

" _In fact, I wouldn't even call it a waste. You're worth every second._ "

I frowned to myself and kicked a rock, sending it skittering down the sidewalk. When one has a voice in their head, isn't there a rule of thumb that they aren't nice to you? Isn't that the entire point?

" _Generally, yes. But I'm not 'just' a voice in your head._ "

I let out a frustrated sigh as I turned onto my driveway. _Fuck you_ , I thought scathingly. _I'm not crazy enough to believe that. Yet._

The voice didn't answer, which somehow managed to make me even more frustrated. I shoved the front door open with a loud squeak that echoed through the empty house. I listened for a moment, making sure no one was home, then I slammed the door shut with all my strength. I felt the sound rattling around inside my bones.

Another sigh escaped me, taking all of the anger and frustration with it until all that was left was confusion.

I didn't get it. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. As far as I knew, there was no history of mental illness in my family. It just came out of nowhere.

I started pulling myself up the stairs, my mind not comprehending where my feet were going.

What am I supposed to do? If I tell my mom or my sister, I'll probably get taken to therapy or put on pills or something. They'd probably send me away somewhere.

But if I don't tell anyone, I might go even crazier. I might hurt someone.

 _Or myself,_ I think, shooting a look at the scab on my palm.

Slinking into my room, I let my backpack fall to the floor and slumped into my desk chair. I had tons of homework to do, but if I tried to do math right now I think my brain might explode.

While I was trying to decide whether to do it or just go to sleep, a sound came echoing up the stairs and down the hallway to my bedroom.

Someone was knocking on the front door.

* * *

I knew Fang ditched me. I watched him walk away towards his house and shook my head. Something wasn't right with him today.

" _Follow him."_

I bit my lip, balking at the order. That's pretty creepy, even for me. I didn't want to come off as a stalker. I liked having Fang around and didn't want to screw up the only friendship I've had in years.

" _I said follow him, Max. I won't tell you again_."

I huffed out an annoyed breath, but reluctantly began walking in the same direction Fang had gone.

 _He's probably just going home._ I thought back at the voice. _What's the big deal?_

" _I don't need you to ask questions, I need you to follow orders. If you can't do that, I'll find someone who will_."

I shivered and crossed one arm over my chest to grab the strap of my backpack. The voice had never sounded so irritated with me before. My inner sass master wanted to retort, but I held myself back.

If I had to be obedient to get what he promised me, then so be it.

As I suspected, Fang was in fact just going home.

 _Ok, you know where he went. Can I go home now?_

" _Go talk to him."_

I dragged myself up the steps to the front door, not really wanting to do this. Fang clearly didn't want to be around me right now. But I didn't have a choice.

Reluctantly, I knocked on the door.

I shifted my weight from one leg to the other impatiently. After about a minute of this with no indication Fang was going to open the door, I knocked again.

Right as I was going to knock for a third time, the door was yanked open. As soon as Fang saw me, he groaned and leaned against the door frame.

"Look, I'm sorry." I said quickly, gripping my backpack strap with both hands. "I know you probably don't want to put up with me right now. It's just that you were acting strange and I was worried."

I gave him my best puppy dog eyes, but he wasn't looking at me. His eyes were shut, his hand rubbing the back of his neck in exasperation.

"You've known me for 4 days," he muttered. "Why the hell are you so worried?"

I anxiously licked my lips, trying to come up with an answer that would sound convincing.

"You're the first friend I've had in awhile." I said, hopefully fast enough to seem legit. "So I just thought I'd try to be here for you."

"I don't even know you!" He snapped, his glare making me cringe. Pushing my hair behind my ear, I tried to salvage the situation.

"I know, I know. I'm not trying to be a stalker, I'm just-"

"Why don't you just fuck off and leave me alone?" Fang burst out, making me jump from the sudden yelling. He didn't wait for an answer, he just slammed the door, leaving me stunned on his doorstep.

* * *

After I slammed the door in Max's face I just stood there, listening to the sound echoing through the house.

On the other side of the door, I heard Max let out a shaky breath. After a moment, her footsteps scraped against the porch as she turned and walked away.

" _You shouldn't have yelled at her._ "

I shook my head impatiently and returned to my room, trying to stave off the guilt that was slowly forming in my gut.

" _She was just trying to help."_

 _I don't need her help,_ I thought, angrily stomping up the stairs. _Or the two cents from the damn peanut gallery._

" _I'm here to help too, Fang_."

I stopped and leaned against the wall, only half way up the stairwell. I was so tired. I just wanted to go to sleep and make that damn voice shut up for a little while, but if I slept, he would just talk to me in my dreams instead.

Wait…

I pulled myself to my feet and finished climbing the stairs. Instead of going to my room though, I went to the pair of big wooden double doors at the end of the hall.

I edged open one of the doors to the master bedroom, slipping inside quietly and closing it behind me. I felt like if I even breathed, the air would be out of place and my mom would know I had been in here.

I crossed the room to the master bath, stepping carefully to avoid the piles of clothes strewn across the floor.

The bathroom was as much of a mess as the bedroom, making me roll my eyes. She was constantly getting on Monique to keep her room clean. Hypocrite much?

The entire double sink counter was covered in hair brushes, make up, a hair dryer, a straightener, perfume, and bobby pins. I quickly glanced over it, not wanting to disturb anything. I didn't see what I was looking for, so I pulled open the bottom sink drawer, where she usually kept Advil and stuff.

There, in the back corner of the drawer, was the orange pill bottle.

Perfect.

The voice was saying something to me while I wrapped my hand around it, but I did my best to block it out. Turning the bottle over, I saw exactly what I wanted to see printed on the label.

 **Prosom (Estazolam) 2 mg. Take one tablet orally before bed. Use as needed for insomnia.**

" _Fang, this is a bad idea. What if she catches you?"_

 _She won't. She never uses this stuff anymore._

" _Come on, am I really that bad?_ "

 _Anything to make you shut up for five seconds._

" _You know this stuff is addictive, right? And this is the adult dosage_."

I frowned. I didn't know any of that, so how did a disembodied voice in my head know it?

" _I'm not just a voice._ "

At that moment, every scrap of patience I had left vanished.

"Shut up!" I screamed, slamming my free hand against the tiled floor. "I don't care! I'll down this entire bottle if it makes you go away."

Before the voice could say anything else, I popped a pill in my mouth and swallowed it dry.

(A/N Sorry it took so long guys! And I promise I am working on the next chapter of Rebel Love Song. Bear with me.

UNC-

Silence)


	12. Chapter 12

"Hello?"

"Hey Val."

Dr. Martinez smiled at the familiar voice while she stirred the stew on the stove.

"Hey Brandon. How are you?"

"I'm doing ok. How'd your move go?"

"As well as could be expected." she sighed, shifting the phone to hold it between her shoulder and her ear as she poured the stew into a large blue serving bowl. "Nick threw a fit."

"He always does." Valencia could practically hear her ex-husband rolling his eyes. He never had been very fond of her son.

"How are the girls?"

Val turned and carried the bowl to the table. Angel sat to her left, happily drawing. Monique was to her right, still in her workout clothes from cheer practice, typing away on her phone.

"They're good. Do you want to talk to Angel?"

"Yes please."

Turning to her youngest daughter, Val leaned down and spoke in her special voice that was just for her little girl.

"Angel, do you wanna talk to daddy?"

Angel's head snapped up, her drawing forgotten. "Yes!" she cried happily, making grabby hands at the cell phone.

Val handed it to her with a smile, then turned back to the cabinets to get out bowls.

"Monique." she called over her shoulder. "Be a dear and go get your brother for me."

"Ok."

Monique quickly climbed the stairs without looking up from her phone, something she had grown very good at doing. As she walked down the hall, she pulled the hair tie from her hair and let her curls fall down over her shoulders.

Still not looking up, she knocked on her brother's door. Chuckling at her friends message, she tapped out a reply. Only after pressing send did she look up, and was annoyed to see that the door was still shut.

She knocked again, much more impatiently. Three more text messages later and the door still hadn't opened. With a roll of her eyes, she shoved the door open.

To her surprise, her night owl brother was completely passed out. He lay on his bed, feet still on the floor with his shoes on. As if he had sat down and then fallen asleep right then.

She contemplated waking him up, but quickly determined it would be to much work and returned to the kitchen.

"He's asleep." she reported as she sat down at the table.

"Alright." her mother replied, sitting down at her place. "I'll leave something out for him."

Deep down inside, Valencia was relieved. Now she wouldn't have to look at him, wouldn't have to see those black eyes tearing into her. She could go a few more hours without being reminded of _him._

* * *

"Nick! Nick! Wake up! We're gonna be late!"

Go away.

"Nick! Oh for fuck's sake!"

Something was tugging insistently on my arm.

"Leave me alone." I mumbled, trying to turn away from whatever voice was talking to me. For all I knew it was that damn one in my head.

Whoever was bothering me pulled me up into a sitting position by my arms. I made a grumpy noise and tried to pull away.

Then there was a sharp impact against my face, and my eyes popped open long enough to see a brown blur in front of me before they started sagging shut again.

Monique slapped me again, which finally started to clear some of the fog from my brain.

"Fuck." I swore, putting a hand up to my red cheek. "What the-"

"We're late because you wouldn't wake up, asshole!" She latched her hand around my wrist like an iron vice and jerked me to my feet. "Come on! If I get a tardy because of you I will kick your ass!"

My breath left me with an 'oof' when my backpack slammed into my chest, but before I could recover she was pushing me out the door. I almost died going down the stairs, and the next thing I knew I was in the backseat of my mom's van.

I pushed my hair off my forehead and frowned at the window. How was it morning already? It was like 3 in the afternoon when I took that pill.

" _I warned you_."

Fuck. Well, at least I know the pills work now. Ladies and gentlemen, I have just found my escape.

" _You're not going to get any schoolwork done like that_."

 _The funniest part of that sentence was you assuming I care about school._

" _Your mom will get on your case if you start flunking._ "

I rubbed the gunk from my eyes, trying not to chuckle out loud.

 _You know, for being in my head, you're pretty uninformed about my life._

I ran my hand through my hair, and feeling it stick up everywhere, pulled my hood up. Glancing down, I realized I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday. Hopefully no one else will notice.

The car stopped abruptly, pitching me forward against the back of the passenger seat. Forgot to put my seat belt on. Whoops.

Monique was out of the car like a flash of lightning, running up the path in a desperate attempt to reach class before the bell.

As I stumbled out of the car, my eyes flicked up and met my mother's in the rear view mirror. She immediately looked away.

(A/N Alright have some Devils daughter. Will start working on the next chapter of RLS next.

UNC-

Silence)


	13. Chapter 13

I walked into class five minutes late, prompting all of the other kids to stare at me as if I'd just murdered someone. Ms. Lunsford just scowled at me and pointed to my seat.

Despite feeling fully awake now for the first time in a few days, I found myself staring at my feet in an attempt not to trip.

I slumped into my seat, pointedly not looking at Max and trying to pay attention to what the teacher was saying.

"Alex, Jesse, you may present."

Oh. Right, the project.

I gulped guiltily, staring down at the surface of my desk. I felt Max glance at me, but I wouldn't look at her. We both knew we only had about half of the information we needed, and we both knew it was my fault.

The two boys in question were two from that loud, obnoxious group yesterday. The ones I had wanted to kill.

 _Don't think about it._ I told myself, biting my tongue to distract myself.

" _Ignoring it won't make it go away._ " the voice taunted. I bit down harder, until there was a sharp sting and coppery blood filled my mouth.

The voice didn't say anything else. I don't know if that was because of me biting my tongue, or if it just chose to be quiet. Either way, the pain seemed to keep me calm, prevented me from freaking out. I could feel it, this was still real, I wasn't completely crazy yet.

I swallowed the blood and tried to direct my attention back to the boys presenting. My head was starting to ache a little, but that was probably just the fact that I had been asleep for like 15 hours.

Their presentation was quick, only about five minutes. Three more pairs followed, each matching the first in length. As Max had predicted, two groups did Christianity, one did Islam, and one did Buddhism. There was still 3 other groups to go, but Ms. Lunsford called us next.

I hadn't even noticed she had until Max tapped me on the shoulder. I stood up, anxiously fiddling with the end of my sleeves and tugging on my hood to make sure it was still up. I could already see the knowing look on everyone's faces when they realized our presentation was only half done.

Max pushed me forward. "Don't say anything." she hissed into my ear, "Just let me do the talking."

I stood to the side as Max hooked up her laptop to the Smart Board. No one had bothered to notice me when I was at the back of the room, but now I was getting more than a few looks, and one of the perfume spraying girls whispered to her friend. She giggled.

 _They only notice the outcasts when it's time to mock them,_ I thought bitterly to myself, _Until you toss me right out in front of them for their entertainment, I'm just a shadow on the wall._

I saw a flash of light out of the corner of my eye as the projector turned on. Then the whole class gasped.

My lips turned up at the edges in a tiny smirk, seeing their shocked and disgusted faces. It might be petty, but there's something to be said for shock value.

Max began to speak, her sentences practiced and eloquent. She kept her face serene, despite the glares and offended looks she was getting from the class. One boy even stood up and walked out.

I thought the presentation was going to end soon, but when I looked at the board I was astounded to see a full list of pros and cons. She had done my research herself.

It was a double punch of guilt and relief. Now our grade wouldn't suffer, but at the same time it must have taken her a long time to get all of my research done and put it all together.

The moment the presentation ended, the room erupted into frenzied talking. Ms. Lunsford took advantage of the moment and called Max and I over to her desk.

"That was a very… interesting presentation." she said thoughtfully, tapping her pencil against the desk. "Just one thing I have to ask. Nick, I noticed you didn't say anything."

I clenched my jaw, irked for some reason that she had called me Nick. It didn't make any sense, but I was angry all the same.

I answered her with a sullen shrug.

"We made a deal." Max said quickly. "He did most of the research, so we agreed I'd do most of the presenting."

"I see." Ms. Lunsford mused while I shot Max an incredulous look. She steadily ignored me. "Well, Nick, try talking more next time." God, what was it about my actual name that was bothering me so much?

I nodded sharply and headed back to my seat. Halfway down the aisle, everything went double. My head spun, and I barely managed to catch the edge of my desk before I fell over. What the hell?

" _Side effects,_ " the Voice answered, echoing in my head. " _I did warn you._ "

I scowled to myself as I sat back down. I needed to do something with myself, so I tugged my hood forward some more. Then I toyed with the drawstrings, trying to keep my hands busy. I was filled with a nervous energy, like I just wanted to run. The same kind of feeling you get walking down a dark hallway, feeling sure that something is behind you.

I barely paid attention to the last few presentations, my gaze flitting all around the room, unable to focus on one thing. My eyes kept landing on Max, who had fallen asleep at her desk. I don't blame her, she must have been up late putting the presentation together.

When the bell rang, I wanted to bolt out of the room as quickly as possible. I was about to, but then I looked back at Max. She hadn't woken up.

Without thinking about it too hard, I reached out and shook her shoulder. She started awake, her brown eyes adorably confused. Suddenly there were butterflies in my stomach, and I rushed out of the classroom.

(A/N Here ya go! Next chapter should be up pretty soon.

UNC-

Silence)


	14. Chapter 14

I let the flood of students carry me, the roar of chattering voices making my head pound. The lunchtime rush bore me out the back doors of the main building, out to the courtyard.

Framed by the wings of the school, the courtyard was more of a grassy field, with a giant oak tree right in the middle. The branches spread so far they brushed the bricks in some places, casting little puddles of shade across the green lake.

Pods of students dotted the grass, basking in the sun and enjoying one of the last semi-warm days of the year. I broke off from the herd of students and made my way towards my spot at the base of the tree trunk. My place in the chilly shade of the remaining leaves, where no one would bother me.

I stared at my feet as I walked, watching the dry leaves crunch under my sneakers. As I passed a group of boys, I barely glanced up at them. I recognized some of them from my English class, sitting with their friends from other classes. I directed my eyes back downward, just as one of them shot out his arm and grabbed my ankle.

My head spun, and within a second I was face first on the ground, spitting blades of grass out of my mouth.

"Freak." One of them snarled. I couldn't tell if it was the same one who tripped me, because I refused to look back at them. I kept my eyes closed, waiting for the dizziness to wear off before I tried to get up.

"We don't want Satanists here." a different voice snapped, and an extra puzzle piece clicked into the jigsaw. That's why they hadn't done this before now. They probably didn't even know I existed before Max dragged me in front of all of them and painted a target on my forehead.

I took a breath and pushed myself back to my feet. The boys were still sniggering and muttering threats behind me, but I just ignored them and continued on my way. _Not like I could do anything about it._

I finally made it to my shadowy sanctuary and plopped down. I held my backpack to my chest, partially as a shield and partially to numb the hunger pains. I was starving, but I hadn't had time to grab anything for lunch before Monique shoved me into the car. My mom was always saying she'd give me lunch money, but she always forgot.

So I sat, stomach growling, picking grass out of my hair and watching the other students walk by. Some I recognized, some I didn't. Some were from English, and when they saw me, they glared.

 _Thanks Max._ I thought bitterly to myself. _You just had to be edgy_.

" _It's not her fault._ " The voice murmured. " _They're the ones who are ignorant and hateful._ "

I sighed to myself, not wanting to admit that he had a point. My eye was caught by a flash of glitter, and I glanced to my left to see three of the perfume girls sitting in a sun ray about ten feet from me. Thankfully, they didn't notice I was there.

I turned away, my eyes aching from all the flashing jewelry and bright colors, only to see a very different girl walking in my direction. Max.

She didn't look at me as she passed by. Probably mad at me. Or thinking I was still mad at her.

I watched her go, conflicted. I wasn't really still mad at her, but at the same time being around her made me feel even crazier than usual. But she also made me feel less alone. All in all, I couldn't decide whether to try and talk to her or not.

I was just about to call out to her as she sashayed past the perfume girls, but they beat me to it.

"Hey, Satanic whore!"

I winced, and Max froze.

 _Oh shit_.

Max slowly turned and looked over her shoulder at them. The taunters two friends were giggling madly, the bully had a smug smile on her face. One that probably wouldn't last long.

"Excuse me?" Max asked in her Ice Queen voice. "Were you talking to me?"

"No." the girl said, rolling her blue eyes. "I was talking to the other Satanic whore."

 _She kinda looks like Angel._ I suddenly thought. _All grown up. Hopefully Angel won't be such a bitch._

Max just stood there, clenching her jaw. Obviously filled to the brim with fury.

"So, I've always wondered." The Angel-look-alike continued. "Do witches actually fuck the Devil?"

Max huffed out an exasperated breath, struggling for self control. "Just leave me alone."

"Or what? You'll turn me into a toad?" The girls behind her burst out in even louder, even more obnoxious laughter. I gripped my backpack a little closer to me, watching Max's face turn red. Whether from shame or anger, I couldn't say.

" _Stand up for her_." The voice whispered.

 _You're crazy_. I answered back in my head. _I can barely stand at all without falling over. I'd just embarrass her._

" _She'll do something stupid._ "

 _Maybe she won't_.

Max shook her head. I saw her take a deep breath, and to my great astonishment, she turned and tried to walk away. Wow, maybe I was right. Maybe she wouldn't retaliate.

"Hey, witch!" The blonde girl called out again. "Do your brothers worship Satan too? I guess that would explain why they're such fire obsessed freaks."

Max whirled, her hair flipping around her dramatically. The look of black flames in her eyes made me shiver, violently. She was terrifying.

"Do not." she growled. "Make fun of my brothers."

The blonde girl got to her feet. Oh no.

 _Don't go near Max_. I mentally urged her, clutching my backpack like someone at a horror movie clutches a bag of popcorn.

"Or. What?" the girl snarled, getting right up in Max's face. The situation was escalating more and more, you could practically feel the aggression radiating off Max. Max just stared with that evil look.

"See?" the girl mocked. "You can't do anything. You're just a weak little pathetic Satan worshipping witch. Won't be long before you get expelled. You and your psycho brothers."

I saw Max twitch at the word weak, and I knew in my gut that things had just gotten a million times worse. So, finally, I pulled myself to my feet.

Max didn't notice. She was just staring at the girl, murder written all over her face. With a laugh, the girl reached up and shoved Max's shoulder.

And all hell broke loose.

(A/N Sorry guys, had to reupload cause nothing was italicized. Sorry about that.

UNC-

Silence)


	15. Chapter 15

The sickening smack of Max's palm against the girl's cheek left total silence in it's wake. For a moment the whole universe froze, me and the other two girls just staring with dropped jaws.

 _Stop there. Stop there_. I silently begged, but as soon as I thought it I knew she wouldn't.

The girl stood there, stunned, and Max took the opportunity to keep attacking. Time seemed to speed up as she knotted her hand into the girls blonde curls and yanked her to the ground.

I winced at the thunk of the girls back hitting the grass and her breathless "Oof!"

" _Stop her!"_ The voice shouted in my head, somehow making my ears ring. As I watched, still rooted to my spot like a tree, Max flung her backpack away and straddled the girl.

Then my heart stopped when I saw her clamp her hands around her victims throat.

All three perfume girls drew in a panicked breath in the same moment, but only the other two kept breathing. The girls friends acted quickly, both leaping to their feet and racing away, probably to get teachers. The pounding of their feet matched that of my heart in my ears.

The pinned girl was struggling, kicking her legs and scratching at Max's hands, manicured nails tearing through her flesh and leaving red streaks. Max didn't so much as blink.

" _Stop her! Stop her now!"_ The voice was screaming, over and over like a broken record. But still I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything but whisper her name pathetically as she choked the life out of her prey.

Bucking and thrashing wasn't helping the girl at all, but she kept going, desperately trying to throw Max off. But Max had her feet dug into the grass, and she wasn't going anywhere.

 _She's gonna kill her_. I thought, seeing the black flames in Max's eyes even from where I stood. Her nails were digging into the girl's throat, for no other reason other than that it would hurt.

The girl was getting more and more desperate as her face started to change color, and her frantic movements were attracting the attention of students sitting around us. Questioning voices started to float over the courtyard, and a few people stood up and started walking towards the fight.

Max either didn't notice or didn't care, and didn't react when a particularly hard scratch left a trickle of blood running down the back of her hand. My eyes locked onto the bright color, and I felt a rush of adrenaline that was dangerously close to making my head spin again.

Finally, finally, I could move.

" _STOP HER!_ " I obeyed before I thought. I don't know how I managed to keep myself on my feet being as dizzy as I was, but I did, and only a second later I was tackling Max.

My left shoulder took the brunt of the fall. We rolled several times, over and over, until finally we came to a stop with (thankfully) me on top, pinning Max to the ground.

This whole time, I hadn't heard Max make a single sound, but now she was growling. A deep, guttural sound from the back of her throat. For a second I thought I was holding a rabid bear instead of a teenage girl.

I couldn't see very well with all the spinning and blurring, but I could see the circle of feet crowding around us. The students gathering didn't seem to know what to do. A couple went to the girl, who had pulled herself up to her hands and knees, gasping and coughing. I saw a flash of red from her, and could only guess that Max had left her own scratch marks.

I couldn't see Max moving underneath me, everything was just a blur of colors. But I could feel it, and I found her wrists and pinned them to the grass.

"Don't." I whispered. "Stop. Just stop."

The noise level was steadily rising as more and more kids joined the crowd. Footsteps pounding and kids jabbering, from low muttering to high pitched shrieking. Max's victim was still coughing and her voice was raspy, but she had started trying to speak all the same.

"Crazy… tried to kill…" was all I could understand from her.

Larger, darker shapes were pushing through the crowd. Possibly security guards.

"Let me up!" Max shouted, right in my ear. "Fang, let me up!"

Before I could decide one way or the other, someone grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me off of her. Now the colors of the kids clothes were blurring together with the green grass and the blue sky, and being jostled around and forced to my feet by whoever had me made it impossible to see anything.

So I shut my eyes.

Someone was yelling at me, but I couldn't understand them. The person gave up on talking and started pulling me somewhere, making me almost trip all over my own feet. If they hadn't kept an iron grip on my arm, I would have face planted again.

The noise got quieter and quieter as we got further away. After a minute or so, I could finally hear myself breathing again.

 _You're ok. You're ok. You're still alive. It's ok_.

I drew in a shaky breath and dared to open my eyes. Things were still blurry, but now I could see the door to the school building before we went through it.

As I suspected, a security guard was pulling me through the halls. His grip on my arm was ridiculously tight.

"Can you let go?" I muttered, subtly trying to tug my arm away.

"No!" He snapped, yanking on me. "Stop fighting or I'll handcuff you."

"But I didn't-"

"Shut up!"

I fell silent and occupied myself with trying to keep up with him. So focused was I on this task that when he stopped, I slammed into his back.

He pushed open the door he had stopped in front of, and with one motion, send me stumbling into the room. The door slammed shut behind me.


	16. Chapter 16

The office was very spartan looking. Nothing on the walls, no personal touches anywhere. Not even a single bookshelf. There were only two uncomfortable looking brown plastic chairs in front of a plain oak desk. Behind the desk sat an older looking woman. Gray hair pulled back into a strict bun, her navy blue suit sporting nary a wrinkle. There were wrinkles around her eyes that looked like cracking ceramic, but not a single one next to her mouth. Probably didn't smile much. The name plaque on the desk read 'Vice Principal.'

"Sit down, please." She said. Her voice was strong and pointed, and it made sure that I understood that she was not making a request.

I shuffled forward and sat down in the left hand chair. I couldn't look around very much for fear of screwing my vision up again (it was still slightly blurry at the edges), but there wasn't much to look at. The office was very dark, no windows and only a single lamp sat on the desk. Very ominous.

"Where's Max?" I ventured to ask, anxiously tucking my hands under my thighs.

"Don't worry about her." the Vice Principal said, folding her hands firmly on her desk. "I understand you were present for an… altercation a few minutes ago."

I nodded slowly.

"Why don't you tell me what you saw." Her frozen-lake eyes rose to meet mine, and I bit my lip.

" _Lie to her._ " The voice whispered in the back of my mind. " _Tell her you didn't see._ "

I gulped, not sure what to do. If I told the truth, Max would get in serious trouble. She might even get arrested. But if I tried to lie, I wasn't sure I could be convincing. This woman was even more intimidating than Jeb, staring me down with those crinkled eyes. And the pill-induced anxiety wasn't helping.

The woman sighed and shifted in her seat. "Let's start with this." She prompted. "Did you know the girls involved?"

"I know Max." I said. I tried to keep my voice quiet, but in this silent room, it sounded like the trumpeting of an elephant. "I didn't know the other girl or her friends."

"Are they in any of your classes?"

I nodded, still not sure whether to lie or not. "Yeah… Max and I have them in first period."

"Did you see why Max attacked them?"

I chewed on the inside of my lip, considering. "She… she was just walking by." I found myself saying. "Max. The girl started bullying her."

"And she attacked them?" The woman asked.

"She called Max a satanic whore." I continued, refusing to let the matter die. "Called her a freak and a witch, made fun of her brothers. Told her she was gonna get expelled."

"Yes, yes." She obviously didn't care what the girl had done. I jumped back in before she could say anything else.

"Her friends were laughing at Max. Max told her to leave her alone, and when she didn't, she tried to walk away. But she grabbed Max's arm and wouldn't let her leave. She pushed her."

"And what did Max do?" the Vice Principal asked impatiently, leaning forward over her desk. I took a deep breath.

"She… she slapped her." I admitted, squirming in my plastic chair. "The girl wouldn't let her leave."

"But that's not all Max did." She narrowed her eyes at me, the skin surrounding them folding up on the creases. "Is it?"

I slowly shook my head, a shiver going down my spin when the voice hissed at me.

" _Stop talking._ "

"What did she do next?" I could feel my hands shaking underneath me, and I pulled them out from under my legs and clenched them into fists.

"She knocked her down." I muttered, wanting to look away from the woman but refusing to appear intimidated. "She knocked her down and put her hands around her throat."

The woman leaned back, satisfied that she had gotten what she wanted out of me.

But I wasn't done. "I tackled her. I didn't want her to hurt anyone or get in trouble."

"Thank you." I heard the dragging of a drawer opening, then a pad of referral slips and a pen appeared on the desk. "You can go now."

"It wasn't her fault." I said, unwilling to leave the matter the way it was. I didn't want Max to get in trouble, no matter how scary or violent she had just been. She was the only person who talked to me at all, and without her here I would be the only target for the other kids. Selfish, I know.

"The girl bullied her and wouldn't let her walk away."

"I said you can go." She didn't even raise her gray head, already scribbling away. She didn't care.

I rose to my feet and turned to leave, only now noticing that the room was barely the size of a broom closet. No wonder she didn't have anything in here.

I left, blinking at the sudden glare of the hallway lights. My eyes found the clock on the other side of the hall. Lunch had ended half an hour ago. I needed to get to my next class, but my backpack was still outside somewhere. I let out a sigh of resignation and headed down the hallway towards the doors.

The courtyard was empty now. I could see the black lump that was my backpack lying in the grass next to the tree. Besides that and a few smushed blades of grass, there was no indication of the fight.

" _You should have lied_." the voice snarled as I walked. " _Max is going to be taken away now._ "

 _She tried to kill someone._ I retorted. _Lying would have only gotten me in trouble too._

" _She wouldn't have tried to kill someone if you had gotten involved earlier_." The voice was right pissed at me, snapping and growling the whole time it took me to get to my backpack.

 _Shut up._ I mentally hissed as I swung my backpack onto my shoulder and turned back towards the school. _I told you, I'm not crazy enough to actually do what you tell me_.

" _But you're crazy enough to talk back to me._ "

I huffed angrily to myself. This voice was so fucking annoying. Earlier, when it had been relatively silent, I had been wondering whether the pills were worth the side effects. Now that it was talking again, I would do anything to make it shut up.

" _You can put yourself to sleep all you want_." the voice said, it's tone distinctly mocking. " _But when you wake up, I'll still be here. I can be patient. When you run out of those pills, I'll still be here. You can't run away from me forever_."


	17. Chapter 17

Cold steel circled my wrists, clanking harshly whenever I moved. Although, alone and handcuffed to a chair as I was, I didn't have much reason to move. So I stayed still, stared at my feet, and thought.

 _Are you angry?_ I thought. The voice didn't reply.

 _I'm sorry._ I tried next. _I should have listened to you._

No answer.

"Damnit." I muttered out loud, biting my lip. My hands stung from the scratches, but that was nothing compared to the thought of what my dad was going to do when he found out. I really had screwed myself over.

Behind me, I heard the door open. I tried to look over my shoulder, but all I could see was the barest sliver of a person out of the very corner of my eye. Quickly turning my head the other way, I got another tiny sliver of a different person.

"Do you know what kind of trouble you're in, missy?" Asked the voice from my right, the first person.

 _What do I say?_ I nervously asked the Voice. He probably had a plan. He always has a plan, an ulterior motive, some way out.

 _"You got yourself into this mess. You get yourself out."_ The indifference in his tone made my heart freeze.

The person who had spoken walked around me, towards a desk at the other end of the smallish room, finally entering my field of vision. Boring brown suit, boring black glasses, slightly overweight, balding. Yep, the Principal all right. My brothers are more familiar with him than I am, but I've seen him around.

He plopped down in the chair behind the desk, throwing down a manilla envelope. Folding his hands over the top of it, he raised his eyebrows at me.

"Well? Do you?" Mr. Davidson, according to the nameplate, had a simpering, whiny voice that offered me exactly no incentive to tell him anything.

I raised my chin, trying to appear as dignified as I could while handcuffed to a chair. "I'm not saying anything until I have my parents and a lawyer."

He planted his hands more firmly on the desk and leaned forward. "Don't be stupid here, Max. We have witnesses that testified to you attacked another student and attempting to strangle her. This doesn't have to be difficult."

I looked him right in the eye. "Parents. Lawyer. Then we talk."

"Would you prefer to do this at the police station? Or in the courtroom?"

I leaned back in my chair and just looked at him, blank faced. The message was clear: You can't intimidate me. Although if I'm being honest, if it wasn't for the deal I had made with the Voice I would've just confessed and moved on. Juvy would be better than my dad.

But that's not an option now. I had to stay where I was so that I could accomplish whatever it is he wanted me for.

If he still wants me.

The principal sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Fine. If you want to do this the hard way, fine."

My stomach twisted as he picked up the receiver on his desk phone and started dialing. Turning my eyes back down at my shifting feet, I held my breath.

"Yes, Mrs. Batchelder? This is Principal Davidson. No, your sons didn't do anything. It's your daughter. Ma'am, I'd prefer it if we spoke in person. Yes, now. Thank you."

The phone clicked back into its cradle, and I gulped. It was just a matter of time now. It would be in vain to hope my dad wouldn't come. My mom told my dad everything. She had to.

Mr. Davidson's' chair creaked as he settled his weight back, and I felt his gaze settle heavily on me.

"Max," he said softly. "I know your father is a very wealthy, influential man."

I barely looked up at him, suspicious and confused. Was he trying to be nice to me?

"That's why I've never asked your brothers this before. But now that all three of you have acted out, I feel like I should. Is everything ok at home?"

I blinked. That I was not expecting. I expected him to rant and rave and expel me, not ask me about my home life.

I bit my lip, not knowing how to respond. If I told him the truth, my dad would probably just pay him off. But if by some scarce chance he actually reported him, that could solve my problem right then. _But_ , then I would never get my revenge. And who knows what the Voice would do if I broke my deal. He certainly wasn't going to tell me.

I started to open my mouth, but before anything could come out, the office door slammed open.

I winced as my parents stormed in. Well, my dad stormed. My mother followed along behind him like an anxious mother hen, her hands twisting together.

"Why is my daughter handcuffed?" My father boomed. "Release her at once!"

The Principal stood up, a fake expression of regret on his face. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Batchelder. She attacked another student."

His lazor gaze immediately turned on me, boiling my skin with it's intensity.

"What?" he growled. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw his hands curl into fists.

"Max?" my mother whispered in disbelief. I glanced up at where they stood next to my chair. Her eyes were huge with shock and fear. Whether she was afraid for me or for herself, I couldn't say.

I looked away and hunched my shoulders. Mr. Davidson leveled an expectant look at me, but I didn't say anything. It wouldn't matter what I said or what he said, my dad was already pissed and nothing anyone said would change that.

Dad turned away from me, towards the principal. With surprising calmness, he drew his checkbook out of his pocket.

Mr. Davidson let himself look at it, then raised his chin towards my father.

"Uncuff her." Dad said, his voice firm and unwavering. Mr. Davidson looked at him for a moment, slowly turned his head towards the cop, and nodded.

The policeman made a disgruntled noise, but stepped forward all the same. With a slight click, the cuffs fell away from my wrists.

I rubbed them, trying to make the red circles go away, while watching the two men carefully. Without turning his head at all, my father spoke. The words tolled in my head like the solemn ringing of a church bell.

"Anne, take your daughter home."

My mother gulped audibly. After a half second's hesitation, she laid a cold hand on my arm. I stood up, moving slowly and carefully, like my father was a T-Rex who would attack if I moved too quickly.

Together, we shuffled out of the room and out of the school, neither of us saying a word. The cold wind blew the first orange and yellow leaves across the tarmac, making me shiver. The warm day it had been barely an hour before was completely gone. By the time we made it to the car, Mom had tears running down her cheeks.

The chauffeur opened the door without speaking. I slid inside, leaning up against the door and staring out the window.

I could feel her staring at me, but it still took her several moments to speak.

"Don't you understand?" She whispered. I glanced at her, only to see a heart wrenching beseeching look in her eyes. I looked away again as fast as I could.

"I can't protect you from him, Max. He's heartless. He could throw us all out without a single penny and make sure I never get a job."

A sick feeling was brewing in my stomach. I pulled a knee to my chest and rested my chin on it, trying to comfort myself, since she wasn't. It wasn't working too well.

She started to reach out to me, but thought better of it and put her head in her hands.

She stayed that way the whole way home, body shaking with delicate, feather-like sobs.

(A/N Hey guys. I just wanted to say how grateful I am to all of you who are so patient with me. I know it sucks only getting an update every few months, and it's really easy to lose interest in a story with such a long wait time. So thanks to all of you who understand. I'm 16, in high school and college, struggling with depression and an eating disorder, who just moved, and friend drama. So I really appreciate it when people are patient with me. I still love fanfiction, and I promise no matter how long it is between updates, the stories will never be abandoned.

UNC-

Silence)


	18. Chapter 18

"Nick! Wait up!" The voice behind me echoed off the front of the school building. I kept walking, already dreading having to trudge home. No doubt the voice would be hounding me all the way there. If the pills ever stop working, I might have to jump off a roof or something.

"Nick!" Someone grabbed my arm, and I whirled around with a violent start.

It was Monique, standing there with one fist on her hip and her other clutching my wrist.

"Are you deaf or something?" She asked, obviously irritated. I just shook my head and frowned at her. Didn't she have cheer practice?

"No practice on Friday's, nimrod." She said, guessing my question. The words were mean, but there was a little smile on her face that told me it was just a joke. "Come on, Mom's picking us up."

"Wait." I muttered. "Didn't she open up her practice today? Shouldn't she still be working?"

She gave me a patronizing look. "Technically, yes. But the walk home is almost a mile. Now come on, she'll be here in a minute."

I let my younger sister drag me towards the pick up zone, unable to keep the bitter thoughts from running through my head.

 _Of course she'll pick you up. She'll drop everything at work to come get you, but won't lift a damn finger for me_.

 _"Isn't that what I've been telling you this whole time?"_ The Voice responded snarkily. _"None of them give a damn about you."_

 _Yeah yeah yeah. You need to get some new material_.

As expected, Mom's van was parked at the curb. When she saw Monique, she smiled and waved. She waved back, then released my wrist as we drew nearer to the car.

She immediately hopped in the passenger seat, brown curls bouncing with every jaunty movement. I crept into the back row, leaning up against the window and resting my chin in my hand.

The van pulled away from the curb as my mother asked Monique about her day. It only took a minute or two to get back to the house, but in that span of time she managed to fit in a novel's worth of details.

The car turned into the drive and crunched a long to about the halfway point before stopping.

"Alright, darling." Mom said cheerfully. "I've gotta be getting back. Do you need anything else?"

I was already climbing out when Monique answered. "Nope. Thanks, Mom. You're the best."

I heard the doors slam shut, and then the van was reversing back down the driveway.

 _I wonder what Max's nickname for her is_. I thought idly as she skipped ahead of me towards the house. _I never did ask her about it_.

Monique disappeared into the house. When I followed a few moments later, I could already hear her footsteps on the second floor.

I slowly pulled myself up the stairs.

" _You shouldn't do this again."_ The voice whispered to me. _"It won't end well. The more you do it, the more you'll spiral._ "

I ignored it.

" _Fang, listen!_ "

I focused on my movements. Putting my backpack down, taking off my shoes and socks. I considered changing into pajamas, but as the voice continued to speak, I realized I couldn't take it even a second longer.

The pill bottle was hidden in one of the drawers on my bedside table. Not the best hiding place, but it would do until I could figure something else out.

I swallowed one down and quickly hid the bottle again, suddenly paranoid that Monique would walk in on me.

 _"It's too soon to take another one, especially at this dosage. I'm trying to help-_ " The voice was getting softer and softer. I stretched out on my bed and listened with satisfaction as it completely faded away.

Within seconds, I was asleep.

* * *

I stared up at the blue painted ceiling of my bedroom, trying to ignore the bumps of the drywall that revealed the fact that it wasn't real. Trying to lose myself in the sky. It wasn't working. No matter how hard I tried to imagine myself flying away, I stayed stuck on the ground, in that stupid room while the walls closed in around me.

Butterflies swarmed in my stomach, waiting for the moment my dad would get home and all hell would break loose.

But it didn't happen. At some point I heard the front door open and close and all of my muscles coiled like a spring. But he didn't come up the stairs. I waited, and waited, and waited, but the door never opened.

The calm before the storm is way worse than the storm.

Eventually the smell of cooked meat and potatoes began wafting up the stairs. I hesitated, but the growling of my stomach forced me downstairs.

Cautiously, I crept towards the dining room. Everyone was there eating dinner as usual. Iggy, Gazzy, Mom, Dad, deadbeat uncle and snobby grandfather. No one seemed to be speaking, the only sound in the room was the scrape of cutlery against china.

Iggy, sitting directly across from the archway I stood half-hidden in, suddenly looked up. Our eyes clashed, and his grew to the size of dinner plates. Was it just me, or did he look scared?

I glanced at my dad, but he either didn't see me or was ignoring me. I swallowed and started to step into the room, but something stopped me.

In the spot where I usually sat, there was a conspicuous empty space. No plate or silverware or anything, not even a place mat. The message was clear.

I looked back at Iggy, just to see him staring down at his plate. He wasn't going to say anything. No one was.

That's alright. I didn't expect them to.

I returned to my room, this time not bothering to conceal my footsteps. Everyone would know I was there, and hopefully they would all feel bad.

I tried to do my homework, but it wasn't working. I'd stare at the page for about a minute, then turn my gaze away and drift away. After an hour and a half of this I gave up and went back to staring at the ceiling.

I drifted off at some point, and I have no idea how long I was asleep before I was awakened by the creaking of my bedroom door.

I didn't need to open my eyes to know who it was. The storm was finally here.

He knew I was awake. "Do you know how much I had to pay those people to clean up your mess?" He asked. His voice was surprisingly calm, but I didn't let that trick me into a false sense of security. I said nothing and kept my eyes closed.

He stayed silent for a moment, letting the quiet weigh down on me before he spoke again.

"I don't want to see you leaving this room for anything besides school for the next two weeks. Do you understand?"

I still didn't say anything, but it was a rhetorical question. The floorboards creaked as he turned to leave, but he paused.

"And if you ever step the tiniest toe out of line again, you will wish you were never born."

The light from the hallway disappeared as he shut the door, plunging my room back into cooling, calming darkness. I let out a deep breath, the butterflies solidifying into heavy stones.

" _Now then,_ " murmured a voice from the back of my head. My eyes popped open and my spirit soared. He was back!

 _"Are you ready to listen?"_

(A/N Yo. I've had this chapter written for a long time, but I think my beta is busy, so I figured I'd just upload it now. School just got out for me, so I'll hopefully be getting some more writing done before I have to go back. Enjoy!

UNC-

Silence

P.S Whenever I write my sign off when I haven't done it in a long time it always makes me so happy. :P)


	19. Chapter 19

I felt the heat before I opened my eyes. I drew in a deep breath, savoring the smell of the smoke, and slowly sat up.

As expected, flames licked the walls of my bedroom, but nothing burned. And he was perched on my desk chair in his black suit.

He raised his hand towards me in a beckoning gesture. I obeyed.

The wood floor was cool under my feet, an odd contrast to the blazing heat on my face. The heat only intensified as I approached him and knelt on the floor.

I started to lower my head, but he stopped me with a hand under my chin and raised it again. His touch was scalding, like when you run the bath water too hot. I loved it.

He tilted his head as he looked at me. As usual, his face was covered in shadow, but I could feel his eyes on me all the same.

"It's alright, Max." he murmured in his soothing voice. "I forgive you."

I released a breath I didn't know I had been holding, and all of my muscles relaxed, making me feel like I was gonna melt into the rapidly warming floor.

"I chose you for a reason." He continued. "I need that fire, that willingness to act at a moment's notice." I gulped, already hearing the dreaded 'but'.

"But. I also need obedience. An ability to resist temptation until I say otherwise. So…"

I held my breath, terrified he was gonna break our deal, leave me in the dust.

"You need a partner, Max." I blinked and frowned, confused. A partner? What? "You need someone to hold you back, to show restraint."

"But…" I muttered, half to myself. "Who else would be crazy enough to listen to a voice in their head? Who else would have the guts to murder people just because you tell them to?"

I couldn't see it, but I could feel his smirk. With a chuckle, he dragged a burning finger across my cheek.

"No one is. Not without a little push." He leaned in closer, the shadow moving with him to keep his face obscured. "Your next kill will be in three weeks."

My breath sucked in, excited butterflies immediately swarming into my stomach. Finally!

"After that kill, I will give you your first taste of power. You will use that power to convince Fang to listen to me."

Everything clicked into place. That was why he wanted me to become friends with him so badly. That's why Fang had been acting so weird, he must have already been hearing him. But does he have what it takes? Will he listen, or will he go check himself into a mental hospital? And of course, he has to have something he wants in return, something he'd do anything to get. Does he have that? He seems pretty listless most of the time, not really investing in anything. This wouldn't be easy...

"Do you understand?" He asked me, softly but firmly.

"Yes." I breathed out, swallowing back my doubts. It was like he said, I had to be obedient, and trust that he knew what he was doing. I felt his smile on my skin like a gentle sunbeam, and I couldn't resist the smile that curved my lips in response.

"Now, get some sleep." The flames began to flicker down, the heat dissipated, and within moments I was once again cloaked in darkness.

* * *

Monique sat at the kitchen table, head resting on her hand, idly staring at the creamy pages of her history textbook. She had a test on Monday, but God was this stuff boring. Why should she care about how the Ancient Egyptians made their mummies? It wasn't like she would be mummifying anything soon.

As usual, Angel sat next to her, coloring and happily swinging her legs. Crayons and half finished drawings covered the entire table, and Monique often found herself stopping her "studying" to hand her the color she wanted.

Behind her, her mother made an impatient tsking sound.

"There's no way your brother is still asleep." she huffed. Monique immediately perked up, here was an excuse to stop studying!

"I can go check on him." she said, striving for nonchalant. Before her mom could answer, there came a thunk from upstairs, like someone setting their feet heavily on the floor.

"That must be him." Her mother said cheerfully, as Monique wilted back into her seat.

"Mony, blue!" Angel called, stretching her arm across the table and making grabbing motions with her hand. Monique obediently retrieved the indigo crayon and handed it to her little sister, who immediately resumed her activity.

A second later she heard shuffling footsteps in the hallway, and her adoptive brother walked into the kitchen. She barely held back a gasp when she saw him.

He looked like he had been hit by a truck. Hair sticking up all over the place, still in his hoodie and jeans, and bags under his eyes so black he looked like he had been punched several times in the face.

"There you are." Her mother said, not seeming to notice or care that her son looked so haggard. She was standing at the counter, sketching out some ideas for advertisements for her vet clinic.

"You've been out for awhile."

Nick peered at the clock on the oven and made a quiet sighing sound. Without responding to his mom, he made his way across the kitchen to the refrigerator.

Monique watched him closely as he snatched out the bowl they had saved for him, wrapped in tin-foil. He had missed dinner two days in a row, she suddenly realized, he must be hungry.

He took a fork from the dish rack and plopped himself into a chair across from Angel, immediately digging into his food like a starving wolf. Monique kept staring. There was something wrong with him lately, she just knew it.

"Nicky, red!" Angel cried, making her adorable grabby hands again. But Nick just kept on eating, oblivious to her.

"Nick!" She yelled again, kicking her heels against the legs of the table. When he still didn't move, Monique nudged his arm.

His eyes shot up to her, a questioning look in them. She nodded towards Angel.

"Red!" Her voice was getting more and more insistent with each passing moment.

Finally, Nick seemed to realize what Angel wanted from him and pushed the crayon lightly with his fingertips, letting it roll across the table to Angels waiting palm.

She couldn't stay quiet any longer. "Hey, are you alright? You've seemed a little out of it lately."

Nick paused, as if he was about to say something, but just ended up shrugging and shoveling the last few bites of stew into his mouth.

Monique opened her mouth to ask him something else, make him tell her what was wrong, but he saw it coming and quickly got up from the table. Returning to the fridge, he pulled out a bottle of water and chugged the whole thing down in one swig. Then he left, leaving the bottle on the counter and the bowl on the table.

Monique bit her lip, listening to the sound of his footsteps ascending the stairs. Eventually, she asked her mother if she had noticed anything off about him.

Her mom shrugged. "He's a teenage boy, dear." she said. "They're all a little odd."

(A/N Yooooooooo. It's been awhile. But I've got the writing bug, so there should be more of this story up fairly soon. I've also got a chapter of Rebel Love Song awaiting review, so that should also be up soon. Thank you guys for being so patient with me. :)

UNC-

Silence)


	20. Chapter 20

I stared down at the little pill sitting in my trembling hand. I didn't want to go back to sleep yet, not so soon. But if he talked to me again, I might just break.

I took a deep breath and closed my hand over the pill. Maybe I could do a few things before taking it. You know, take a shower, watch some Youtube. Maybe he wouldn't talk to me for awhile.

So I did. I put the pill back in the bottle and took a shower. He wasn't talking to me, but that just made me feel worse. The anticipation, the waiting for him to talk was killing me.

Ok, maybe I just need a distraction. So I went back to my room and got on my computer. If I could just give myself something else to think about…

I jumped when someone suddenly knocked on my door. Three knocks, and then Monique entered, knowing that even if I had bothered to answer through the door she wouldn't have heard me.

"Yo, Nick, Mom needs you to watch Angel tonight."

I rubbed my forehead tiredly, not fully processing what she was saying before I answered. "Why?"

"'Cause she has an advertising thing tonight."

"Why can't you do it?"

"I'm sleeping over at a friends."

Well, crap. If I had to watch Angel in a few hours, I couldn't take a pill anytime soon. Which means that voice will have hours to torment me and I couldn't do a thing about it.

I let out a defeated, irritated sigh. "Fine." I muttered. I expected her to leave as soon as I gave in, but to my surprise, she stepped closer to me.

Voice much softer than it had been a moment before, she asked, "Hey, are you ok? You've been acting weird."

I glanced up at her, shocked at her question, and was even more shocked to see the very real concern in her eyes.

"What?" Was all my addled brain could think of to say. She frowned at me and pushed her curls behind her ear.

"What's going on with you? The last couple of days you've been sleeping way more than usual."

The truth was on the tip of my tongue, burning to be told. But if I did…

" _If you do, they'll throw you in a hospital somewhere and forget you._ "

I jolted when the voice suddenly started talking again. Clearly it wasn't going to waste any time.

"Nick?" I jumped again when I felt Monique's hand on my shoulder, and she quickly snatched it away. "Dude, seriously, what is _wrong_?"

I just looked up at her helplessly from my desk chair. God, I just wanted this voice to _go away_. But it was right, if I told her she would just tell my mom, and she would just shuffle me off and let other people deal with me. Even then there wasn't a guarantee it would stop. It might be hell on earth. But here, I knew for sure that I had something that worked. It was much safer, no one ever had to know.

The panic swirling around in my stomach started to calm down. Everything would be ok, so long as I just didn't tell anybody. It would be fine, I had my pills, eventually the voice will give up.

So I said, "It's nothing, I'm just tired." I glanced nonchalantly back at my computer screen, trying to ignore the way my sister planted her hand accusingly on her hip.

"That's the lamest lie I have _ever_ heard you tell."

I shrugged, keeping up the act. "The teachers have been giving me a lot of homework. I've been up late most of the week. I'm just catching up."

She twisted her mouth at me, in that funny expression she has that says 'I don't believe you.' She stood there for a moment, debating her options, then shook her head in annoyance, her curls bouncing.

"I'm trying to help you here." She snapped. "Do you want it or not?"

"I _said_ it's nothing!" Now I was snapping too, and her face immediately darkened. The frustration was nearly palpable in the air.

"Fine, have it your way." She turned to leave, but not before I heard her mutter, "Last time I try to help."

I bit my lip and stared blindly at the screen. Had I made a mistake? She wouldn't be asking again, maybe I should have gotten help while I had the chance.

" _No Fang, you did exactly the right thing._ " The voice whispered silkily in the back of my mind.

I shivered and started to stand up to get my pill, then remembered Angel and stopped. Fuck.

" _Don't worry, we have all the time in the world._ "

Gritting my teeth, I shoved my chair back from my desk and started pacing around the room. Come on, Fang, think. Figure out a way to make this damn thing disappear.

 _Hypothetically,_ I thought at it, _If I was going to do what you said, how am I supposed to know who your daughter is or how to help her? I don't suppose you could just tell me_.

The voice chuckled at me in the most condescending way a disembodied voice possibly can.

" _Oh Fang, if I told you that now you would just avoid her. You can't hide things from something that's inside your head."_

I groaned to myself and leaned up against my bedroom wall, trying in vain to lessen my dizziness.

" _How long are you going to let them walk all over you? How long are you going to allow yourself to be at the bottom of your mother's priority list? How long will you let yourself remain a social pariah while your sister trots around with her small army of friends?"_

 _That's not Monique's fault._ I argued back, albeit not very convincingly. _Besides, she just proved she cares about me._

" _Does she? She only cares when she has absolutely nothing better to do. You saw her in the kitchen. The only reason she came up here was so she would have an excuse to stop studying."_

I didn't want to believe him… but he kind of had a point. Would Monique had bothered if she had anything better to do? Judging from her past behavior… probably not. And he was definitely right about my mom, she hadn't even noticed anything strange.

No, no, no, wait. I already knew all of this to begin with. This doesn't change anything. The voice wasn't "right' about anything, it was just confirming what I already knew to try and trick me.

" _No Fang. I'm telling you what you already know so that you'll begin to consider me as a solution to your problem rather than just being miserable. Nice try though."_

 _It's really hard to think with you taking up so much space._ I thought, rubbing my forehead tiredly. I just wanted to go back to sleep. Maybe I could lay down and doze for awhile. So long as I don't go into REM, he can't talk to me in my dreams. He'll probably be able to talk to me this way still, but at least I won't have to deal with trying to stay upright.

" _All these little workarounds are only making things harder for you._ " he said, almost sounding like a sigh.

"I hate you." I muttered aloud, not even thinking about it.

" _For now._ " he replied flippantly. " _But you'll come around eventually._ "

I went and stretched out on my bed, trying to ignore that slightly scary thought. I closed my eyes, but obviously I had just slept for five million years, so I wouldn't be drifting off anytime soon. Now I just didn't have to watch the room spin.

To my surprise, the voice didn't say anything for quite awhile. I wasn't naive enough to believe he had gone away, but I could enjoy my freedom while it lasted.

* * *

"Alright, Angel. Be good for you brother, you understand?" My mom said as she rapidly buttoned up her coat. Angel, standing in front of her, nodded meekly.

"And remember Nick, she needs to be in bed by eight. Got it?"

"Yeah." I murmured back, shoving my hands into the pockets of my sweats.

"Ok, good." she breathed out, kneeling down to give Angel a tight hug.

"I'll be home at ten." she said as she pulled back. She was talking to me, but she was looking at Angel, so I didn't even bother responding.

Without looking back at me, she turned smartly, picked up her purse, and clicked her high heeled way out the door.

The emptiness started to settle around the house, and I suppressed a nervous jitter. Angel wasn't the hardest kid to babysit, but it had been a while.

"Nick?"

I looked down at her, staring at me with those big blue eyes that could probably make someone jump off a cliff if she asked you sweetly enough. "Can we watch Snow White?"

I couldn't help cracking a smile. Snow White was her favorite Disney movie. She must have watched it dozens of times.

"Sure. Let's just go make sure the TV is set up first, ok?"

"Ok!" She grinned at me and latched tightly onto my hand. I was surprised, but managed to keep it off of my face as we went to the living room.

Thankfully the TV was set up, and within two minutes Angel was sitting eagerly on the rug in front of it, her big eyes devouring the now familiar images.

I plopped myself down on the couch behind her, my eyes watching the screen but my mind not processing the images. As usual for these last few days, I was thinking about the voice. To be quite honest, I was running out of new thoughts to think about it. Just 'what does it want' 'why me' 'why now' 'how can I make it go away' 'how long will it last' over and over and over. But no matter how many times I thought the questions, the answers weren't materializing.

After a little while I gave up thinking about it and turned my attention back to Angel. She was singing along with the dwarves, her blonde curls bouncing happily. Once again, I couldn't help but smile.

The movie went on, but I was watching Angel more than I was watching it. Despite definitely knowing how things go down, she would still gasp when Snow White bit the poisoned apple, and she still cheered when the Prince came along to wake her up.

As soon as it ended, she was bouncing on her heels and crying, "Again, Nicky, again!"

I glanced at the clock. 6:30.

"Alright, we can watch it one more time, then you have to go to bed, ok?"

"Ok!" She clambered up on the couch to sit next to me, hugging my arm. I chuckled a little as I hit the play button.

This time she just hummed along and slightly swayed from side to side to the songs in the movie, obviously starting to get sleepy.

"The girls in my class say Frozen is better." she murmured quietly. "They say Snow White is too old."

"Don't listen to them." I advised, ruffling her hair. "Old doesn't always mean it's bad."

"Which ones do you like more?"

"I like the old ones. They have more personality."

"I knew it." She said it so quietly, so seriously, that I couldn't help laughing out loud. It felt nice, just being happy, not worrying or brooding. She giggled along with me.

By the time the movie ended again, she was fast asleep, leaning up against my side.

 _She did that on purpose_ I thought to myself, amused. Smirking, I stood and scooped her up, settling her head against my shoulder and carrying her upstairs.

I wasn't surprised to see that Angels room was set up and decorated to perfection. Mom always made time for her. It was all done up in pink and ruffles, just like Angel likes it. Her bed was tucked snugly into a corner, and piled with so many blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals you'd be surprised Angel could even fit on it.

I shoved the massive pile over as best as I could and laid Angel down. Her little blonde ringlets spread across the pillow, perfectly highlighted by the light streaming in from the hallway. I tucked one of her blankets over her little body and left the room, closing the door behind me.

 _I should probably wait up for Mom to come home_ I thought. What I really wanted to do is take my pill and go to bed before the voice started talking again, but my mom would probably get mad if she got home and I wasn't up to reassure her that Angel was fine. So I went back downstairs and found something stupid to watch while I waited.

Color me surprised, but the voice didn't speak once the entire two hours I was up waiting. But hey, I wasn't going to complain.

At 10:01, I heard the lock on the front door turning. I sat up straighter, rubbing away the drowsiness that had started to accumulate in my eyes. My mothers heels clicked down the hallway to the living room.

"Is Angel in bed?" she asked tiredly, making her way to the couch and sitting down.

"Yes." I answered softly.

"Was she in bed on time?"

"Yes."

I sat there awkwardly while she took her shoes off and freed her hair from her coat and scarf.

 _It's the same color as mine._ I reflected. _But mine isn't as curly._

I didn't know why I was still down here. I could've gone to bed as soon as she got here, but instead I just kept sitting next to her on the couch, staring. There was something stuck in my throat, I wanted to say something to her, but I didn't know what.

"So, how was your advertising thing?" I ended up saying, before the situation got any more awkward. I saw her blink in surprise, clearly not expecting me to ask her anything or take an interest.

"It was good." she answered, glancing over at me. "I think I'm going to have some good business here."

"That's good." For a second we just looked at each other. Then her eyes hardened, and she quickly looked away.

I was instantly, bitterly angry. _Come on, Mom._ I thought scathingly. _You can't even look at me now?_

She just sat there, staring at the carpet. She could probably feel the anger radiating off of me, but she clearly wasn't going to try and do anything about it. Why would she now when she never had before?

 _Whatever. I tried._ Without another word, I stood up and went to my room. I think the voice tried to talk to me when I got up there, but I swallowed the pill so quickly I didn't register what he said. And so I spent another night in peaceful oblivion.

(A/N Alright, I've got a whole bunch of questions for you guys. Buckle up.

1\. Would you be interested in reading Overwatch/ Dungeons and Dragons fanfics? I've got a couple of Overwatch oneshots sitting in my computer with nothing to do. For Dungeons and Dragons, I've got a campaign running with some of my friends and I can't resist the temptation to turn it into a story. If you guys don't want to read it I'll just keep it to me and my friends, but I figured I'd give you the option.

2\. Those of you who have played the game this fic is based on (Lucius) know that (SPOILERS) there's a Latina maid that dies later on. This character is kind of throwing me through a loop though because she's such an obvious stereotype it hurts. However, as I'm white, I don't know the best way to approach this situation. I've thought of a couple solutions that I thought I would present to you guys and try to figure out the least problematic one.

A. Leave her as a stereotype.

B. Make her white (running the risk of whitewashing)

C. Remove her character completely (Risk of erasure and would kind of fuck up the original plot)

D. Switch her with another character so she won't be a stereotype anymore, but she'll still be in the story. (Whitewashing maybe?)

If you're a person of color, please feel free to review with your opinion on the matter. If none of these solutions appeal to you, also feel free to provide alternate ones for me to pursue. I really want to do this right, and I appreciate any responses I may receive.

UNC-

Silence)


	21. Chapter 21

When my eyes opened on Monday morning, I was surprised to find that it wasn't to Monique hitting me, or my mother banging on my door, but to solid darkness. For a second I panicked, thinking the pill had failed and he had gotten to me again, but then the glow of green from my alarm clock caught my eye.

3 A.M.

I groaned aloud, rolling over to face away from it. Great. Three in the morning and I'm wide awake. Couldn't take another pill now, I would sleep all day and give myself away.

For a minute I just lay there, staring blankly at the wall. How was it Monday again already? I felt like it had been last week just a second ago, and the whole week had passed by at the speed of sound.

As I laid there, I idly wondered if Max would be in school today. I had been too busy sleeping to check the news, so I had no idea if she was suspended or expelled or if the incident had been reported at all. Hell, maybe the whole thing was just a drug induced dream. Seems likely enough, all things considered.

I don't know how much longer I laid there, staring at the wall and thinking in circles, but eventually I got sick of it. If I was going to be up this early, I might as well take advantage of the extra time. So I got up. My head spun and I had to lean against the wall to keep from falling down, but I was determined to do something. Anything really. So, slowly, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. Every creak of the wooden floor made my stomach churn. The side effects from the pills were getting worse the more I used them.

"But I can't stop." I unknowingly whispered aloud. "I can't."

" _Of course you can_." The voice murmuring in the back of my head made me bristle. He could never just leave me alone, could he? " _No one is forcing you._ "

"I didn't ask you." I hissed under my breath.

He scoffed, but thankfully shut up anyway.

The kitchen was steeped in darkness, except for the small circle of moonlight coming through the window. It shone on the sink and just a sliver of the counter, making some strangely shaped shadows. The darkness was nice. Soothing.

" _So what are you up to?_ " Damn it, he was already back? So much for peace and quiet.

 _If you really must know_ , I fumed, this time keeping it in my head, _I'm sick of being hungry at school. If I'm gonna be awake anyway, I might as well make some stuff for myself_.

" _I see._ "

 _Why do you care anyway? Couldn't you just poke around in my brain and find the answer yourself?_

" _Yes, of course I could. But I enjoy knowing I can make you talk to me._ "

"Damnit." I muttered. He was playing me for a fool. And I was playing myself right into it. I growled to myself as I crossed the room to the fridge and swung open the door. The light burned my eyes, and for a second I had to look away. Weird shapes danced in the shadows, causing me momentary panic.

 _Don't be stupid_. I scolded myself. _There's nothing there, it's just the light messing with your eyes_.

" _But you aren't sure_." he taunted. I bit my tongue until I tasted blood, just to calm myself down, before I shook it off and focused on my task.

I tried to be as quiet as possible, but in the middle of the night, every sound was magnified by a hundred times. All I could do was hope my mom or sisters wouldn't hear and think we were being robbed or something. That would be a pain.

I made myself enough sandwiches to get me through the rest of the week, and hid them in the back of the fridge, where my family wouldn't find them. Having my sister take the food I made would not do wonders for my mood. By the time I finished, I was feeling a bit steadier on my feet, and going back upstairs wasn't as much of a chore as it had been coming down.

Returning to my room, I closed my door firmly behind me and let out a sigh. There was barely any light inside except for the alarm clock; which now read 3:42. I flopped back down on my bed, laying still and letting the dark and the quiet seep into me. Calming.

For once, everything was still. I wasn't thinking or worrying. Nothing was moving around me or making noise. No other people. No voices. Nothing existed besides the mattress underneath me and the darkness.

 _I wonder if this is what it's like to be dead. If it is, sign me up_.

" _I can assure you, this is nothing like being dead._ " And with the reappearance of the voice, the spell was shattered. The real world came rushing back, and once again I was close to snapping.

 _Do I want to know how you know that?_ I thought, rolling onto my side and resuming my previous activity of staring holes in the wall.

" _That's easy_." he responded. " _Because I'm the Devil_."

I admit, that made me pause for a moment, but it was so cringy and cliche that I couldn't take him seriously.

 _Wow, really? You truly are the edgiest edgelord in all the land. Or, I guess I am, since my brain made you up_.

" _I keep telling you you didn't make me up_."

 _If you really are the Devil, why don't you tell me what it's really like to be dead. Might be entertaining_.

I smirked to myself after that thought. It felt good, being the one antagonizing instead of being antagonized. Sure, it was probably pretty crazy for me to be getting into a sass match with myself, but at the moment I didn't really care.

" _Depends on where you end up. Last time I was up there, Heaven was pretty nice. Fluffy clouds, harps, all that. Purgatory is just boring. All grey, souls eternally waiting in line. Like a never ending DMV. My personal favorite is Hell, obviously. It's different for everybody. I wonder what your hell will look like._ "

I tried to suppress the shiver that ran through me at his last sentence. Playtime was over.

 _Yeah, whatever. You can't scare me_.

He made a little tsking sound at me, like I was a misbehaving toddler.

" _Oh, Fang. It's completely pointless to lie to me. You've been scared since the moment you moved into this town_."

Ugh. I was so sick of this bullshit.

" _It wouldn't be so awful if you just accepted me_."

 _Ha ha, no. Thanks but no thanks Beezlebub._

" _I really don't like that name you know. I prefer Lucifer._ "

 _Gee, too bad I'm fresh out of fucks._

" _Hide behind your humor and bravado all you want. But you can't get rid of me. Ever._ "

(A/N So I had a few days where I couldn't watch Naruto, so I marathoned Blue Exorcist all the way through twice in three days. I think it may have influenced the way I wrote the dialogue, but I'm not positive. I'm just digging myself deeper and deeper into the anime hole. Rip me.

UNC-

Silence)


	22. Chapter 22

The house was waking up around me. Door hinges and floorboards creaked as my mother woke up my little sisters. Light switches clicked, water started running, sleepy voices began to murmur. From my spot on the bottom stair, I could hear my mother coming down the hallway towards me.

"Nick? What are you doing up so early?" I just gave a sullen shrug and reached over to my backpack sitting next to me, moving it so it wasn't blocking the stairs anymore. She finished descending the stairs and came around to stand in front of me. She was still in her bathrobe and slippers, which is what I opted to look at instead of her face.

"Wow, dressed and everything!" she remarked, and then turned away and made her way into the kitchen.

 _Being up early is such a pain_. I thought to myself. I had been sitting on the stairs for a half hour already, having run out of things to do after getting dressed and eating breakfast. Of course, with how jacked my brain was doing homework to pass the time was out of the question. RIP my grades.

The floor trembled ever so slightly as someone came running down the hallway.

"Mom, have you seen my- Ah!"

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as Moniques foot came into direct contact with my head. Both of us tumbled to the floor in a heap, my sister landing on top of me.

"Watch where you're going!" I spat at her, shoving her off.

"Why don't you watch where you're sitting, bird brain!" she shot back. She pushed her hair off her face and sat up, glaring at me. "It's dark in here and you blend in, ya frickin goth nutcase!"

"Monique, are you alright?!" Our mother came rushing out of the kitchen and dropped to her knees in front of Monique, frantically looking over her for injuries.

I slowly pushed myself upright, worried I was gonna be dizzy again, and lightly tried touching the lump on my head. I pulled my hand away quickly with a wince.

"She's fine." I muttered, mostly to myself. "I, for one, got kicked in the head."

"Oh, stop whining Nick." Mom snapped at me. "You really shouldn't have been sitting there in the first place."

"Of course, everything is my fault." I hissed even more quietly. If she heard me, she didn't respond, so I just grabbed my backpack and slunk into the living room to get the hell away from everyone.

I plunked myself down on the floor in front of the couch and tried to shut everything out. But of course, the voice chose that moment to start talking.

" _Don't you wish you could have stood up for yourself? Don't you wish your mother would care about you for once?_ "

 _Yeah, so what? How is listening to you going to make any of that happen?_

" _I can give you-_ "

 _Yeah yeah, you can give me power. You keep saying that. But what the hell does that mean? It's like you wrote the book on being vague._

" _I can let you do all sorts of things. Moving things with your mind, controlling others, even the ability to summon fire_."

Despite myself, I chuckled out loud at that.

 _If I ever start believing that, I'll know it's time to get myself committed._

" _Laugh all you like. But prove to me you are worthy, and I will give you these gifts and more_."

 _God, why can't you just SHUT UP! I'm so sick of you!_

" _Oh Fang, you're such a child._ "

Gritting my teeth, I pulled my knees up to my chest and curled up into a ball. I didn't want to think about it anymore. I didn't want to think about anything anymore. And I still had an entire day to get through.

"Nick?" Great, what did Mom want now? "Will you go get Angel dressed? I need to finish up breakfast."

Ugh, fine. Distractions are welcome. I knew Mom wasn't expecting an answer, so I left my backpack on the floor and went back upstairs. The light was on in Angels room, but she was still asleep, buried under her mountain of soft things. I never understood why Mom insisted on waking her up at the same time as Monique and me, especially since her school didn't start till 9 am.

"Angel." I muttered, kneeling down next to her bed. "Come on, it's time to wake up."

She stirred a little, but only to bury her head further into the blankets. I nudged her shoulder, which was apparently enough for her to start waking up. Pushing the blanket back, she looked over at me, and I was surprised to see tears welling up in her eyes.

"I don't wanna get up." she whimpered, chin quivering. "I'm still tired. Don't make me get up, Nicky."

"Aw, don't gimme that face." I said softly, giving her a small smile. "Mom told me to get you up, and what she says goes."

"But _why_?" she cried, a couple of fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

"No tears, Angie." Perching myself on her bed, I pulled my little sister into a sitting position. She was limp like a ragdoll, clearly displeased, but there wasn't much she could do about it. "It's not fair if you get to cry but I can't."

Her little mouth twitched, trying not to laugh. Seeing my opportunity, I quickly gave her a little jab on the forehead, something that always made her giggle. Sure enough, she cracked.

"You cheated!" she accused, covering her mouth with her hands. But her chuckles still got through.

"Nuh-uh." I replied, unable to stop my grin from spreading across my face. "Now come on, get up. Mom is making breakfast for you."

"Fine." Carefully untangling herself from her blankets, she set her feet on the floor and stood up. She was pretty tall for a five year old. Probably inherited my mom's height.

"Do you need help getting dressed?" I asked.

"No! I'm a big girl!" she answered, crossing her arms and giving me her best glare. I held my hands up in surrender, trying to hold in my laughter.

"Alright, alright, sorry."

Angel grabbed my hand and tugged on it impatiently. Understanding that she wanted me to get up, I obeyed. She started pulling me towards the door.

"Go downstairs and tell Mommy I'm going to get dressed all by myself like a big girl!"

"Ok, ok, jeez!" I laughed at her. "You're gonna pull my arm off, Super Girl."

Having succeeded in pushing me out into the hallway, she gazed up at me and smiled. She was so cute, with her blonde ringlets and big blue eyes. Like a little china doll.

"Go tell her!" She insisted, and then shut her bedroom door. I chuckled to myself and shook my head. Angel really was her mother's daughter.

* * *

Thanks to me being up so early, Monique and I actually arrived at school not only on time, but with ten minutes to spare. Monique was overjoyed and immediately ran to her friends, the ones that always waited for her in front of the doors. I began making my way over to a little grove of trees I had chosen as my spot, but halfway there I spotted the blonde figure leaning up against one of the trunks.

Max.

Instantly, my stomach knotted up. I was surprised she was here at all, after what happened last week. I should probably avoid her, she was probably mad at me.

" _Why would she be angry with you?_ " the voice suddenly whispered, making me jolt.

"Because-" I started to say, then realized I was talking out loud and slammed my jaw shut.

 _Because I yelled at her on Thursday. And she might be mad about me stopping her from hurting that girl._

" _But if you avoid her and she's not angry, she might think you are angry with_ _ **her**_ _._ "

 _Ugh, why is everything always so complicated?_

" _It doesn't have to be. Just go over there and talk to her. You'll never know if you don't try._ "

I frowned, shoving my clenched fists into my hoodie pockets.

 _Are you actually giving me good advice right now?_

" _Don't be so surprised. I'm not here to hurt you, Fang._ "

I waited for it to continue speaking, but it didn't.

 _As much as I hate to admit it,_ I thought, _he's right, damnit._

Taking a deep breath, I continued on my path until I reached the grove. Quickly, without thinking too hard, I plopped myself down on the grass right beside Max.

"Hey."

She jumped about a foot in the air. "Jesus, Fang, you scared me."

"You were facing me the whole time I was walking over here. How did you not see me?"

"Hey, no one has ever accused me of being observant, ok?"

We both gave courteous little half chuckles, but it was only a moment before things became silent and awkward.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here." I heard myself say. "After… ya know."

"You'd be surprised what a checkbook and a position in government will do." Max replied wryly, tucking her hands against her sides to protect them from the chilly autumn morning. "But trust me, I'm paying my dues at home."

Silence started to settle again. It was so strange. Normally silence wouldn't bother me, but now I just couldn't stand it. Was it the pills, or was it being around Max? Either way, I needed to say something.

"Look, I'm sorry about the other day." I murmured, half hoping she wouldn't hear. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

She shrugged and shot me a half smile. "Nah, don't be sorry. I was being creepy. I completely deserved it."

"I guess we both kinda screwed up." Was my lame reply. I found myself staring intently at the yellow grass, trying to avoid looking at her.

"So… friends?" She asked, after another short silence. Maybe she was just as uncomfortable with it as I was.

Before I could really think about it, I had responded. "Yeah, friends."

I glanced up at her just in time to catch a glimpse of her grin before darting my eyes away. I had been unsure at first, and Max still unnerved me a little bit, but maybe -just maybe- it would all work out for the best.

 _Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding._

Students began flooding towards the front doors as the warning bells went off. Another week of dreaded school was starting.

"Come on." Max said, standing up. She brushed the dead grass off of her jeans, and then held out her hand to me.

After momentary consideration, I took it. She pulled me to my feet, and we headed off to first period together.

(A/N AYYYYYYY I don't know where all this inspiration is coming from but I don't care cause I have the next like 6 chapters planned out and I actually know what's going to happen next for once in 5 million years. Be proud of me.

UNC-

Silence)


	23. Chapter 23

When lunchtime rolled around, I headed out to the courtyard to meet Max. It was colder today than it had been last week, so there were fewer kids outside and more dead leaves on the grass. Neither of which I really minded. Even so, I took care to avoid the four or five groups of people still sitting outside. Didn't feel like face planting today, thanks.

As we had agreed earlier, Max was waiting for me in my spot against the tree trunk, where I had been when the fight broke out. Thankfully none of those girls were out here today. Come to think of it, they weren't in class, either.

"Hey Fang." she said when I arrived. I just mumbled something unintelligible and sat down beside her. The voice had been murmuring to me all morning, and all I wanted to do was go home and pass out. But alas, the world is not so kind. At least I had something to eat today.

As I searched through my backpack for my sandwich, I watched Max out of the corner of my eye. She was quiet, her hair falling forward to shield her face while she sat with her backpack clutched to her chest.

"Are you ok?" I asked, pausing in my search. "You're quieter than usual."

I couldn't see her face through her hair, but I could practically hear her smile when she spoke.

"Nah, I'm fine." It wasn't until that moment that I realized she was shaking.

"Are you sure?" Tentatively, I laid a hand on her shoulder. Just as I thought, she was trembling like a leaf.

Max brushed my hand off. "Yeah. I'm just a little hungry is all."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Um… Friday morning…"

"What?!" She winced at my reaction, anxiously tucking her hair behind her ear. Her face was pale as paper.

"Well… my dad said I wasn't allowed to leave my room for anything but school… and apparently that included meals."

"And nobody helped you? Not your brothers or your uncle or grandfather?"

Her mouth twisted into some sort of a smile/grimace, and when she spoke her voice was bitter.

"No. Iggy and Gazzy are too scared of him. So is mom and the staff. My uncle only gets to live with us out of the goodness of Jeb's heart, doesn't want to piss him off. Grandfather couldn't care less."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean, I knew Jeb was an asshole, but I didn't think he'd go as far as to starve his own kid.

"Here." I said, snatching my sandwich (which has chosen this moment to magically appear) and holding it out to her.

"What? No, that's yours." She said, trying to push it away. I refused to budge.

"Max, I've actually eaten in the past twenty four hours. You need it way more than I do." She still looked reluctant, so I changed my approach.

"We're supposed to be friends, right? Isn't this what friends do?"

She looked at me for a second. Then her brown eyes melted, and she cracked a smile.

"You've got me there. Thanks."

That sandwich was gone in 2 seconds flat, leaving only a plastic bag to mark its previous existence.

"Thanks again, Fang." The tiny smile had grown to a full blown grin, which in turn made me smile just a little. "I feel much better now." I just now noticed the handful of freckles sprinkled across her nose. Cute.

"So, um…" Damn it, why was I stuttering all of a sudden? I looked away, cursing myself. Max chuckled softly, and just about all of the blood in my body rushed to my face. Crap. What the hell.

"I've been meaning to ask you." I said quickly, latching onto the first topic that came to my mind. "Did you give my family nicknames? You said you have a thing for them, so…"

"Hmmm." she hummed to herself, leaning back against the tree trunk. "Just one, I think."

"Who?"

"Your sister, the older one."

"Monique?"

"That's the one! In my head, I call her Nudge."

For a second I was confused. Nudge? What kind of a nickname was that? But then I couldn't help laughing, just a little. What else was I expecting from her?

"That's fun. Why not my mom or Angel?"

She shrugged, peering up at the sky between the orange and yellow leaves. "Angel fits her fine. And your mom… meh. I don't know."

A moment of silence passed between us. Then, on a whim, I let myself flop onto the grass at her feet.

"Tired?" she murmured.

"Mmmmm." Was all I responded with, because I really didn't know how to answer. Physically, I was the most well-rested I've been in a long time. But mentally was a whole different matter.

Max nudged my head slightly with her foot. "Cheer up. Already halfway done with the day."

"Mmmm-hmmmm."

"What, did your English receptors break?"

I still didn't say anything, just made a noncommittal noise and closed my eyes.

So this is what it feels like to have a friend. Huh.

(A/N Sorry this one is short guys. I wrote it a week ago, meaning to immediately write another chapter, but then I completely forgot I actually have to post the damn thing. I am a dumb.

UNC-

Silence)


	24. Chapter 24

The next two weeks were relatively uneventful, all things considered. I'd bring Max food at school, then after she would go back home to continue being grounded and I would pop my pill and pass out. The voice continued to try and convince me of whatever it was he wanted me to do, and I continued to ignore him. No homework was getting done, and my teachers were all giving me the angry side eye, but the more days that passed, the less I cared. Who cares about solving equations when you've got a voice in your head claiming to be the Devil? Priorities, people.

In any case, things were almost settled into a weird routine. But they got all kinds of messed up once Max's punishment ended, and that Monday three weeks after I moved in, she caught up with me after school.

I was just on my way home, just outside the school campus, when from behind me came the sound of pounding feet.

"FREEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOM!" Cried Max's voice, a half second before she barreled into me.

I stumbled forward a few steps, barely keeping myself upright, Max's arms locked around my neck.

"Max!" I exclaimed, half surprised and half amused. "What the-"

Her loud laugh echoed down the street, which several neighborhood dogs responded to with a chorus of barks. Letting go and allowing me to straighten up, she stood beside me, still chuckling to herself.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it." She giggled while I gave her a half hearted glare.

"You couldn't help breaking my back?"

She laughed again, tossing her head back. The afternoon sunlight bounced off the blonde highlights in her wind tossed hair, almost like she was sparkling. It had been getting steadily cooler every day, and now the chill wind had her nose and cheeks turning red, as well as the tips of her fingers that were revealed by her fingerless gloves.

"Sorry, sorry." She said, calming herself with some difficulty. "But I'm officially ungrounded now and I thought you might like to hang out."

That gave me a pause. To my surprise, I found that I did want that. But at the same time, I also wanted to take my pill and crash like I had been doing for the past two and half weeks. It had become a habit.

"Besides," she continued, either not noticing my hesitation or ignoring it, "I've noticed you haven't been turning in your English assignments. I could help you out with them, if you want."

I smiled a little at the offer. "No, that's ok. I understand it fine, I'm just lazy. And yeah, sure, let's hang out." Going one day without a pill wouldn't kill me, would it?

"Awesome! We'd better get going then, before I freeze solid."

We started walking towards my house, Max laughing and talking all the way there. This was the most carefree I had ever seen her. For once, there was no scary glint in her eyes or strange inflection in her voice. The whole world seemed a little bit brighter than before.

As usual, we got there before any of my family, but we still just went right up to my room. Wasn't much else for us to do in the house anyway.

My movements were automatic. Close the door, drop the backpack, open the drawer on the nightstand- Wait.

I caught myself before opening it and quickly turned away. Yikes, those pills really had become a habit. I would have to watch myself around Max.

" _Fang, this is bad. You're getting addicted-_ " The voice started to murmur.

 _Shut up._ I snapped mentally. _You talking is not helping this situation_.

For once he actually listened, and the rest of that day went swimmingly.

Max came over after school every day that week. We would hang out and talk about nothing, or she would complain about her dad. A couple of times we even managed to do homework. The voice kept trying to get to me, but it was easier to ignore him when I had someone else to talk to. Once again, everything seemed to be going well. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to stay that way.

That Sunday, exactly one month after I moved in, Max invited me over to her house.

I really should've said no.

(A/N Sorry this one is short again guys, but it's just a transition chapter. The next few will be hella exciting, I promise.

UNC-

Silence)


	25. Chapter 25

The flames licked a little higher up the walls every time he visited. Maybe one day they would consume the entire house… and maybe they wouldn't disappear when I woke up.

"Are you excited?"

"Yes." I answered, turning my attention back to the faceless man sitting in my desk chair. It was finally time. I was going to get to kill again.

"It won't be so easy this time. You will have to prepare carefully."

"Just tell me what I need to do."

"So eager. Don't worry, I will be with you when the time comes. There is only one thing you need to worry about at this moment."

"And what's that?"

"I want you to invite Fang over. I want him to see."

My first reaction was to frown down at my feet, hanging off the end of my bed where I sat. Why would he want Fang to see me kill somebody? It didn't seem very conducive to us becoming friends.

"You have doubts." The tone in his voice was slightly worrying. Cooler than it had been a moment ago. I didn't want to make him angry…

"It's alright, Max. Speak."

I sighed, tapping my heel against my bed. "It's just, won't that freak him out? Make him afraid?"

He chuckled slightly, a deep dark sound that sent shivers down my back. "Oh Max, he's already afraid." I glanced up, surprised, but he just kept talking, unperturbed.

"Besides, no one will know it was you. It will be just another tragic accident."

"Alright, if you say so." I had my misgivings, but I had learned my lesson already. Things would be fine so long as I did what he said. "Will you at least tell me who's gonna die?"

"Your fathers campaign manager is stopping by tomorrow. It will be him."

For a moment, I was confused. I hadn't known about David coming to visit, so how did he know?

"The Devil works in mysterious ways, Max." he said coyly. I couldn't help cracking a small smile. Alright, so David has to die. He had been my dad's closest friend for the past 20 years, this would really hit him where it hurts. But I'd also need to be prepared for the repercussions. He would be angry, and devastated, and he's going to take it out on us. I have to be ready for that.

"Remember Max, invite Fang. As soon as you wake up. Understand?"

I nodded solemnly. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Fang and I had exchanged numbers about a week ago, so getting ahold of him wasn't a problem. He sounded surprised that I was inviting him over, but he said yes anyway. He would be here at 9:30, one hour from now.

I had just gotten off the phone with him when someone knocked on my door.

"Come in?" I said, slightly confused as to who would want to be speaking to me. The door opened just a crack, and I saw my mothers light blue eyes staring at me from the hallway. She didn't come into the room or open up the door any wider. She said nothing for a second, looking at me still in bed with my pajamas on, and gave a little sigh.

"Max, you need to get dressed. David is going to be here at ten to meet with your father." she murmured. On any other day I might have argued with her (The guy had been a family friend for years, who cares if I'm in my pajamas?) but not today. Today I just nodded.

She may have been surprised, but I couldn't see enough of her face to tell. She said nothing else, just closed the door as softly as it had been opened. I could hear her high heels clicking as she made her way towards Iggy and Gazzy's rooms, presumably to tell them the same thing.

Alright. Time to put everything in motion.

I got dressed carefully, taking care to look as normal as possible. I didn't want anything that could make me stick out today. The only difference was I also pulled on my hoodie and my fingerless gloves. I wanted to wait for Fang outside, give myself time to steady my nerves.

Down the stairs I went, across the entryway and living room and into the dining room. As expected, my father, uncle, and grandfather were already up and eating breakfast together at the large table. With all of them together like that, you could tell they were related. Same chins and noses. My dad and his brother had the same sandy colored hair, like mine, but they had their mother's blue eyes.

"So Dan," my father said, not looking up from the papers he seemed to take with him everywhere, "How's your job hunting going?"

"Not so great." My uncle answered. Him and my dad looked a lot alike, but not identical. Uncle Daniel had broader shoulders, and never put as much effort into his appearance as Jeb did. "There's not really a market for my particular talents."

"And what talents might those be?" Jeb snickered. Uncle Dan didn't answer.

All three of them ignored me walking past them. I didn't want to eat the big breakfast the staff had put together, especially not with them. So I proceeded into the kitchen to make myself some toast.

I could still hear them talking from where I was. This time it was my dad and my grandfather, talking about how Claudia's death could affect Jeb's campaign this year.

"I told David to make sure the press didn't make a big deal out of it." Jeb said. "So far he seems to have done his job."

"I think your best strategy is to pretend it never happened." My grandfather counseled. "It's a private matter, and a terrible accident. Nothing more."

Tapping my fingers on the counter, I eyed the freezer door from across the room. No one had any clue.

 _Pop!_ Went the toaster.

Now armed with my warm bread, I made my way back through the other rooms and out the front door.

Today was the first of October. Half of the leaves on the trees were gone, and those that remained were all the fun fall colors. Snow would be coming soon. Hopefully not on Halloween, I hated when that happened.

I settled down on the porch steps and munched thoughtfully on my toast. How was I going to do this? I couldn't just lock another person in the freezer, especially not in the middle of the day. What was I gonna do, drop the chandelier on him? Actually, now that I think about it… But no. I wouldn't be able to get up there and loosen the screws without a ladder, which would be very obvious.

" _Relax Max, I will tell you what to do._ " he whispered to me. " _Just like last time._ " I tried to do what he said, taking deep breaths and whatnot, but it didn't calm the butterflies in my belly one bit. And can you blame me? I was about to kill somebody, after all.

The last bite of toast had just been swallowed when Fang appeared at the end of my driveway. He looked like a shadow that had come to life and peeled itself off a wall, to walk free from it's host. And hell, maybe he was. It would certainly fit him.

I stood up and waved to him. I could barely make out a tiny smile on his face as he raised his hand in response, and I grinned. It wasn't an act, I really was happy to see him. It was so nice, having someone around to talk to, someone who cares. Things had been much less lonely these last few weeks with him around.

"Hey, Max." he said softly when he reached the porch. Thankfully the wind was blowing towards me, or else I may not have heard him.

"Hiya. Still quiet as ever I see." I responded with a teasing smirk. I caught the smallest glimpse of a smirk back, but he covered it when he moved to blow warm air on his hands. He wasn't wearing gloves, so his fingers were red, along with the tip of his nose and his ears.

"Why don't you have gloves?" I asked, standing to the side to let him by. We entered the house together while he spoke softly.

"I don't have any. We moved here from Arizona."

"You wore that much black in Arizona?"

He chuckled. "Yes, I did."

"And you aren't dead?"

"No, I'm clearly dead. You're speaking to a ghost."

I smothered my laugh with my hand, not wanting to irritate my dad, but Fang didn't seem to mind. In fact, behind his fringe, there was a slight spark of mirth in his eyes. He was opening up to me, slowly but surely.

We went up to my bedroom, since it was really the only safe feeling room in the house. The blue sky and clouds painted on the walls sadly no longer gave me the same sense of freedom as it once had, not after being locked in here for two weeks.

I started to close the door, but my hand paused on the cool metal of the knob.

"Do you mind if I leave this open?" I asked, turning to look for him. Fang was leaning up against one of the bedposts, hands in his pockets. He answered with a half shrug.

"It's your house, isn't it?"

I rolled my eyes, but left the door open.

"So." I said, plopping myself across my bed on my stomach. One of the maids had been in here and made it at some point while I was waiting for Fang. "Have you written that essay for English yet?"

"Heh, no." I felt the bed sink on my right as he sat down next to me, and then he too lied down, but on his back rather than his stomach. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked down at him. He was much easier to read this close up, where I could see every movement of his eyes and the slight curve of his lips.

"You know it's due tomorrow, don't you?" I teased, stripping off my gloves.

"Yeah I know."

"You just don't care."

"Mmmmmm-hmmmmm."

I smacked him lightly with one of my gloves. "Use your words." I said, mock scolding. He stuck his tongue out at me. I went to smack him again, but he grabbed the glove from my hand and tossed it over his head onto the floor.

"That wasn't very nice."

He laughed- not a chuckle, an actual full blown laugh- and snatched away the other one, sending it to join its sibling.

For once, he wasn't reserved. He was grinning, his whole face lighting up. It felt like someone had turned on floodlights, setting the whole room ablaze. His eyes looked less like obsidian and more like charcoal, with a warmth burning in them somewhere.

I was openly admiring the sight when I caught a whiff of something. A scent had come floating up the stairs and into the room. The scent of cigarette smoke.

Immediately, my stomach was full of butterflies again. David was here.

(A/N I have no idea why I keep doing this, but I'll get a chapter all edited and ready to go and then not actually upload it for like two weeks? Come on brain work with me here.

UNC-

Silence)


	26. Chapter 26

It was finally time. After weeks of waiting, I would finally get the rush I've been craving. My fingers itched at my duvet.

" _Patience, Max._ " he breathed softly. " _Patience_."

Right. Right.

Forcing myself to take a deep breath, my fingers uncurled. I made casual small talk with Fang for the next few minutes, waiting for some sort of signal. I got it in the form of my mother's high heels coming up the stairs.

She gave a tiny, timid knock on my bedroom door before sticking her head inside. As usual, everything about her was put together carefully to portray perfection, but anyone who cared could see right through the facade.

"Max." she said in her glass voice, "David is here, come say hello."

"I'll be down in a second." I replied. I had intended to sound dismissive, but it came out a lot more harsh. She flinched and disappeared behind the door.

"Who's David?" Fang asked, tilting his head inquisitively, making his bangs fall into his eyes.

"My dad's campaign manager, and an old family friend. You don't have to come down, it'll only take a minute."

He sat up, some slight tension in his shoulders. He still wasn't completely comfortable, and I didn't blame him. I flashed him an easy smile, trying to be reassuring, and then clambered off my bed and left the room.

* * *

"Hey, David." Jeb smiled as he spoke, firmly grasping the outstretched hand of his old friend. "Thanks for coming. Things have been a mess around here since Claudia passed."

"Such a tragedy." the older man tsked, sadly shaking his head. His hairline had long since last the battle against time, retreating to the back of his head. Most of what remained there retained its brown color, but his toothbrush mustache was riddled with grey. He was fairly thin, his gray suit hanging a little limp off of him.

"But still, a personal tragedy." He made his way over to the sideboard, kept in the living room just for him. "The press will stay out of it. I've made sure of that." he said, stamping out his cigarette in the ashtray. David poured himself a small glass of amber liquid from a crystal decanter and downed the whole thing in one swig. Turning, he settled himself comfortably in one of the plush arm chairs that adorned the room. He was undeniably at ease in the Batchelder home, perhaps even more so than in his own.

He reached into his jacket pocket, and Jeb winced when he produced a pack of cigarettes and some matches.

"I really wish you'd use a lighter like a normal person, David." he remarked, as he did every time. "Those things are a fire hazard."

"Jeb, I'm a gentleman at heart." David replied, pulling a cigarette from the carton and placing it between his lips. "You will never catch me with one of those trashy gas station bits of plastic."

"You can get metal lighters."

"Ah, but it's the principle of the thing."

David struck his match, and Jeb made a face. Every time they had this conversation, and every time it ended the same way.

David happily puffed away on his cigarette, filling the air with smoke. Anne and the children always complained about it, but Jeb didn't mind.

"Well, I have a few more papers to finish going over." Jeb said. "Do you mind waiting?"

"Take all the time you need."

Jeb nodded graciously and left, disappearing into his study.

A few minutes later, he heard doors closing upstairs, and three blonde heads appeared as they descended towards him. David smiled to himself. He always had enjoyed spending time with Jeb's children. James so smart, Max so sassy, and Zephyr so full of energy. Sometimes he wondered if he didn't love them more than their father did.

* * *

 _Ugh. I hate it when he smokes inside. Gives me a headache._

David smiled as my brothers and I approached him, making his customary cigarette stick up at an awkward angle.

"Max, James, Zephyr!" He exclaimed. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Hi David." I responded, making sure I sounded carefree and unbothered. On the inside, I was anything but. I could practically see the target painted on his forehead.

Iggy smiled at him, but it was tense and strained. He never had liked David much, even when we were younger.

But Gazzy was happy to see him, at least. He bounded forward, standing proudly before David and puffing out his chest.

"I've grown a _whole inch_ since the last time I saw you!" he proclaimed.

"Wow, a whole inch?" David responded, looking amazed. That's an awful lot. Are you sure you really grew a _whole inch_?"

Gazzy nodded eagerly. "I triple checked!"

" _Alright, Max. Are you ready for step one?_ " The voice whispered to me. I straightened up a little.

 _Yes._

" _Take the matches_."

My eyes fell to where David's matches lay, next to his cigarettes on the end table beside his chair.

 _Hm, looks like I get to play with fire._

David was still chatting away with Gazzy. Iggy leaned up against the wall, waiting for them to finish, obviously anxious to get away.

Casually, I moved behind David's chair. I let my fingers run along the sideboard, trying to appear bored and restless. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Iggy.

When he glanced away for a second, I slide the matches off the table and shoved them into my back pocket. Nobody seemed to notice.

" _Well done._ " he whispered. " _Now, your fathers handyman is in the master bedroom. Go and take a screwdriver from his toolbox_."

Ok… weird. But I didn't really have the time to be asking questions.

 _Alright, gotta get moving._

I looped back around into David's field of vision and gave him an easy going smile.

"It was nice to see you again." I said sweetly.

"Don't tell me you're ditching me already." he said, disappointed. "We've barely talked."

"Sorry David, I have a friend over." Iggy shot me a sharp look. "What? I do."

"Is it that weird guy again?"

Surprised by his animosity, I went into defense mode, arms crossed and shoulders hunched, my previous smile replaced by a scowl.

"There's nothing wrong with him." I replied hotly. Iggy scoffed.

"He hasn't even said anything to you." I said, smoldering. "What's your problem?"

He mimicked my posture and glared at me. "I don't have a problem."

I wanted to scoff back at him, but I really didn't have time to stand here and argue with my brother. So I just snorted in disbelief and walked away. To my relief, none of them came after me, seemingly held in place by the awkward silence I left in my wake.

I made my way back upstairs, trying to put Iggy's mood swing out of my mind. Pausing at the top of the stairs, I glanced around surreptitiously. When I was sure no one was watching, I turned left and ducked into my parents room.

As promised, Vince the handyman was there, perched halfway up a ladder in the center of the room, trying to change a light bulb on the chandelier. As expected, he was also drunk off his ass.

Vince was a short, squat little man with face like a toad's, who constantly smelled (and acted) like he lived in the bottom of a bottle. Normally Jeb demanded perfection from everyone, and I could never understand why he kept Vince around. But at the moment, it worked to my advantage.

His big orange toolbox sat at the bottom of his ladder. I would have to get over there, grab a screwdriver, and get out without him noticing me. I took a deep breath to calm the blood rushing through my ears.

 _It'll be fine_. I told myself. _Fun, even. Like a video game_.

My feet moved silently across the wood floor, quieter even than the night I killed Maria. In a matter of seconds, I was kneeling underneath the ladder. Vince was muttering to himself under his alcohol soaked breath, complaining to no one about the size of the light bulbs. Luckily for me, a screwdriver sat on top of the other tools, perfect for me to take. I shoved it into my other back pocket, pulling my shirt down to cover the metal protruding. It was icy cold against the small of my back.

 _Alright, now I just need to get back out_.

I pivoted on the balls of my feet, preparing to make my escape. But at that moment, the sound of shattering glass tore through the quiet room.

I completely froze. Above me, Vince swore, and the ladder shook as he began to descend.

Adrenaline poured into me, and I booked it toward the door, hoping and praying I was still quiet. Darting out the door, I ducked to the side, pressing myself up against the wall next to the door. Heart in my throat, I listened for some sign that he had noticed me.

There were a few heart stopping moments, and then Vince began to mutter again.

"Damn bulbs."

I released my held breath. He hadn't seen me.

" _Time for step three, Max. Go to the kitchen._ "

I felt weak and shaky from the sudden adrenaline boost, and subsequent crash, but I had to go. So I took a few moments to collect myself, and then proceeded back downstairs.

Gazzy and David were still locked in avid conversation. Iggy remained leaning up against the wall, his back to me. It was pretty easy to get past them and into the dining room. There were a few maids in there, wiping down the huge table and cleaning the windows. None of them paid me any attention.

Luck was on my side yet again, as the kitchen was empty.

" _To the stove_."

I knew what the plan was. And oh boy, would this be _fun_.

He walked me through the whole thing. Loosen this screw, then this one, tug on that hose just a little bit… In just a few minutes, I had created myself a small gas leak.

David is a chainsmoker. The second his cigarette is burnt out, he'll want another one, so he'll reach for his matches. But they won't be there. And since he's too much of an old geezer to have a lighter, he'll go for the next best thing- lighting from the stove. And when he turns on the burner- boom.

I barely kept the evil grin from spreading over my face. Just a little while longer to wait, and then the rush will come. I was practically vibrating with anticipation.

 _Ok, I should get back to Fang._

When I went back past the living room, I kept my face turned stubbornly away. Really this was to keep them from noticing the anticipation written all over it, but they would think I was still angry with Iggy.

Fang was where I left him, laying back on my bed with his eyes closed. But he was frowning and crinkling up his brow, like you might if you were trying to go to sleep without success.

"Hey."

He immediately sat up, expression blank.

"Hey."

I plopped myself on the bed, sprawled out on my side.

"Why so serious?" I teased, doing my best Joker impression. He rolled his eyes at me.

"Forgive me, oh powerful one, for the transgression of not grinning like an idiot at all times."

I stuck my tongue out at him. And just like that, our conversation was going again, as if it had never stopped. I tried to contain all of my nervous energy, but some of it escaped in odd giggles and scrambling fingers.

Practically a century passed by before I got any indication that someone had tripped my trap. The sign I did get was subtle. A half second before all hell broke loose, there was a soft whisper.

 _Woosh_.

The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. Then came the crackling of flames, accompanied by a chorus of screams.

David' shrieks penetrated straight to my eardrums, dragging both me and Fang to our feet, me in excitement, Fang in terror.

Both of us rushed out onto the balcony overlooking the living room just as David burst through the dining room door.

It was magnificent.

* * *

It was horrifying.

A man came staggering through the dining room door. I couldn't tell who it was, because his whole body was engulfed in bright orange flames. And he was _screaming_ ; hoarse, guttural screams like I had never heard before. People were pouring out from every corner of the house, and they were all screaming too. I could see some of their lips moving as though they were saying words, but it was too loud for me to understand anything but utter terror.

That's when the smell hit me, and I almost wretched right there. I clapped a hand over my nose and mouth, trying to keep it out, but it didn't do any good.

It was the smell of smoke, the acrid scent of hair burning, and most disgustingly, the smell of roasting meat. It burned the inside of my nose and my throat, searing into my senses so that I could never forget.

He was still screaming, spinning in circles and flapping his arms around like some sort of demented chicken. Two of the braver maids were trying to approach him, one armed with a fire blanket, the other with an extinguisher.

The screams abruptly stopped when his knees buckled and he hit the floor, unmoving. The maid finally got the extinguisher to work and doused him in it.

The flames finally died, but the smell didn't go away. For a moment it was dead silent, everyone staring in uncomprehending horror as the mist from the extinguisher faded. As soon as he was revealed from it, the house erupted again in shrieks.

Approximately a third of his shirt had been burned away, revealing the top half of his chest. All of his visible skin was glowing red underneath, but rapidly crusting over with something black. He had no hair left on his head, and his eyes bulged from their sockets, a haunting image completed by the complete exposure of his teeth.

My knees turned to jelly and I collapsed to the floor. Without thinking, I frantically pushed myself backwards until my back hit the wall, one hand still over my face. I stared straight ahead at the chain of the chandelier. My breathing was rapidly approaching hyperventilation.

There was too much noise. I couldn't think. I tried closing my eyes, but all that got me was the image of the mans melted face, burned into the back of my eyelids.

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I nearly jumped through the ceiling. But it was only Max, looking down at me with concern. Her face was pale, and her hands trembled as she knelt next to me and grasped my shoulder. She was talking to me, but I couldn't comprehend a single word she said. I just sat there, shaking, one hand over my mouth and the other wrapped around my drawn up knees. I directed my eyes upwards, still trying to distract myself, but all I saw was the smoke stains.

I felt a tugging on my jacket. It was Max again, trying to get me to stand up. I allowed her to pull me to my feet, but only because I was too shocked and numb to do anything else. She lead me gently into her bedroom, sat me down on the bed, and shut the door.

The noise from outside dulled, and I could finally hear the blood rushing in my ears. Slowly, I took my hand away from my mouth. Then Max was in front of me.

I focused in on her, on her sandy hair and brown eyes, the freckles and tan skin. The slight curve of her chin and the angle of her jaw. She was talking to me again.

"Fang? Can you hear me?"

I gulped and forced myself to nod. She smiled.

"Good." she sat down beside me, rattling off information about what had just happened. I drank it in without a word.

"I think that was David just now. A few different people called 911, they should be here soon. I hope Gazzy didn't see that. Probably a gas leak or something like that, his smoking probably set it off. My dad was always telling him to kick the habit but he never did-"

I just sat and listened, my fingernails carving crescent moons into my palms.

Max talked and talked and talked. I couldn't feel time passing at all, it felt like everything had frozen in place. At some point I started hearing sirens in the distance, coming closer, until they were wailing right outside the house. Felt like someone was trapped in my head, hammering against my skull to get out.

"The police are gonna wanna talk to us." Max said matter-of-factly. "Ask us what we saw and all that." My finger twitched, and I felt blood run down my hand. "It's ok, I'm sure they'll go easy on you when they see how freaked out you are."

I looked at her. She wasn't pale or trembling anymore. She seemed almost… normal. Except that weird twinkle in her eyes.

I shook myself, putting it out of my mind. The last thing I needed to be thinking about right now is if Max is as traumatized if I am.

Then to my surprised, and pain, she suddenly grabbed my hand. I stared at her in confusion, and she gave me an easy going grin.

"Don't worry, Fang." she said, squeezing and making me wince. "Everything will be fine."

Then she let go, and I saw my blood smeared across her palm. She didn't seem to notice.

I couldn't suppress the shivers that wracked through me at that moment.

(A/N I hope you guys like long chapters, cause this one is a doozy. Also, this story is now 62 pages long single spaced in 11 point font, and I'm barely into the plot at all. I have no idea how this happened.

UNC-

Silence)


End file.
